On March 31, GeoStrategy Initiative assistant director Ginger Matchett wrote a feature for “Holding water hostage” for War on Rocks on the threat to desalination plants in the Gulf and how states should prepare for attacks. She wrote:
“We are at an inflection point with how aggressors threaten strategic assets in warfare and the significant geopolitical weight it carries. Because hundreds of millions of civilians in the Middle East critically depend on desalination as the source of nearly every aspect of their lives, the plants are an easy target to instill widespread chaos. Missiles and drones raise red flags, but so does oil pollution in seawater, cyberattacks on the plants’ technologies, disruptions to distribution pipelines, and limited energy supplies to power the process;
States should guarantee effective emergency response capabilities and strategize contingency plans to minimize the impacts of strikes. They should facilitate city-wide preparedness trainings to build resilience, so communities feel confident rationing water and navigating industrial uncertainties under stress. If countries fail to consider the evolving risk landscape, cities will face massive water shortages, economic failure, and the worst-case scenario: sustained damage triggering the regional collapse of cities, forcing evacuations and provoking a migration crisis.”
