Chehabi Interviewed on Environmental Issues in Iran
Houchang E. Chehabi, Professor of International Relations and History at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, was recently interviewed on Iran’s environmental and water issues.
Chehabi was interviewed for a June 20, 2016 article in the Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy, a Harvard Kennedy School of Government publication.
From the text of the interview:
JMEPP: How would you describe Iran’s water situation today?
Chehabi: It is the biggest crisis the country faces; because the population has grown, there has been mismanagement of resources, and the resources have declined. It’s basically the biggest existential threat facing the country.
JMEPP:Have Iran’s water challenges been self-inflicted or are they a result of environmental factors, or both?
Chehabi: Both. There has been an ongoing drought in the northwest quadrant of the Indian Ocean. This is felt, for example, in places like Yemen and the Horn of Africa. Even the ongoing crisis in Somalia is partially due to the drought. In the rich countries of the Persian Gulf they have the ability to desalinate water, so the drought is less immediately visible. What is needed is a generalized awareness that the problem is not going to go away. There is no reason why, in the middle of the desert, parks should contain huge lawns.
JMEPP: What are some of the domestic policies that contribute to water issues in Iran?
Chehabi: One is the policy of diverting water from one region to another. There is much debate about this, because people from areas from which water is taken are up in arms. People who have water don’t want their water to be taken and people with limited water seek to enhance their access to this resource. This causes conflict, although for the time being it is under control. But I think it is a miracle that a city like Tehran with so many inhabitants living at the edge of the desert has water coming out of the faucet.
You can read the entire interview here.
Houchang Chehabi has taught at Harvard and has been a visiting professor at the University of St. Andrews, UCLA, and the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa. He has published two books, Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran under the Shah and Khomeini (1990) and Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years (2006). Chehabi has written numerous articles, book reviews, and translations. You can read more about him here.