ABSTRACT
Acute water security challenges alongside failure to resolve interstate and intrastate armed conflicts and political tensions, and the continued high politicization and ineffective management of transboundary waters in the Middle East have combined to create an imperative for focused attention to the theories and practices of water diplomacy processes as a potential entry point for improved transboundary cooperation and water security. This chapter proposes a definition of multi-track water diplomacy and identifies key entry points and linkages within and between informal and formal water dialogue platforms to improve water diplomacy engagements in the Middle East with a specific focus on the Tigris-Euphrates and the Lower Jordan. We postulate that increased linkages between actors across multiple tracks sharing a water resource can create improved opportunities for dialogue on water issues resulting in increased water security in shared basins/in the region.
