Reflections: Understanding Our Use and Abuse of Water

Water is central to all life, but we use it to destroy. Water can nourish, but we use it to starve. It can cleanse and unify, but we ensure it contaminates and divides. The consequences of continuing to desecrate or beginning to restore water's inner grace are tremendousDLand will reflect as much on us as portend our future. Drawing upon twenty-five years of professional work as a water engineer, negotiator, and scholar, Mark Zeitoun provides a unique insider's account of this phenomenon. He explains how unchecked assumptions about water mix with political and economic systems to create an insatiable and ruinous thirst for ever more water. He shows how we use water to lethal effect in wars, and demolish drinking-water systems with wanton disregard. He questions why we transform the most majestic of rivers into canals which spark international conflict and challenge our capacity for preventative diplomacy. The answers reflect more about our society than we might care to admit. If we are to restore water's inner grace, Zeitoun argues, we should worry not so much about "saving" water, but think about what we do with it when it is in our hands.

Table of Contents:
Abbreviations Introduction: Beneath the Surface Chapter 1: Misunderstood Water Chapter 2: Insatiable Water Chapter 3: Killer Water Chapter 4: Hostile Waters Conclusion: Water Whilst it is in Our Hands Acknowledgements Bibliography Image Credits Index

About the Author :
Dr. Mark Zeitoun's research focuses on international transboundary water conflict and cooperation, the influence of armed conflict on water services, and the links between water and health. This stems from his work as a humanitarian-aid water engineer, and advisor on water security policy and transboundary water negotiations throughout the Middle East and Africa. He studied engineering at McGill University in Montreal and human geography at King's College London.

Review :
In Reflections Mark Zeitoun journeys from the beautiful to the barbaric - from sunlit pools to wells stuffed with corpses - and in the process reveals water as a mirror to the modern world and its terrible pathologies. Combining the practical insights of an engineer with the sensitivities of a philosopher and the anger of a concerned global citizen, this is a lucid, astute and poignant set of reflections. Highly recommended. A frank and powerful assessment by one of the most knowledgeable water specialists. A compelling argument is made for understanding our relationship with water in a new way, rather than treating it as a political or economic commodity. A must-read for anyone who wants to reconnect with water and contribute to social justice. Zeitoun's wealth of experience - from the frontlines of armed conflict to the sharp edge of political negotiations - gives him a voice of authority, wisdom and humanity on the use and abuse of water, with its life-or-death implications. He shows us in no uncertain terms that our relationship with - and respect for - water is vital to the future of our planet and all who live on it, holding the key to destruction and (re)construction in equal measures. A compelling manifesto that resonates deeply. An important book that will focus minds on the consequences of misunderstanding water and how we can change our perceptions and actions. Prof Zeitoun provides us an elegant call for civility in the ways we individually and collectively deal with one of our most precious resources. Essential to the future of humankind - indeed instrumental in determining our potential horizons, he escorts us back and forth between the ways we feel about water and the things we do with it - revealing unpleasant truths about our collective use and abuse of and through water. Whether it is taken for granted or the underlying cause of wars, treated as commonplace or hoarded selfishly, water is critical to our futures in ways eloquently explained and illustrated in this rewarding read. Mark Zeitoun's most recent book offers a highly informative and convincingly argued set of reflections on water. It leads the reader beyond the simplistic truisms about water into the world of social complexity, of the insatiable thirst for power and of brutality of armed conflicts. He argues that human ingenuity is using water "in impressively clever and incredibly myopic ways" Can this change? Yes, it can and there are elements of a more farsighted approach visible in the evolution of international law. However, real progress will require a better understanding of water and the present book will help. Zeitoun's book reflecting on water use and abuse is a highly readable and accessible account of the complexities surrounding a topic which is fundamental to all our lives. It spans politics, history, sociology, philosophy and law as well as the practicalities of managing water and how this has evolved over time. It serves as an excellent primer for both specialists and non-specialists on an increasingly pertinent topic which interplays with climate change, armed conflict, and health - something which is increasingly relevant as waterborne diseases, their drivers and their impacts affect the most vulnerable in our societies.