This page showcases research conducted by Dr. Alexandra Turgul as part of her doctoral dissertation.
There is a growing awareness that power dynamics play an influential role in influencing patterns of water conflict and cooperation in transboundary river basins. In basins such as the Jordan and Euphrates-Tigris, where power asymmetries are severe and a basin hegemon dominates the scene, hydropolitical analysis tends to focus on the interstate scale of interaction, overlooking the contribution that non-state actors may have on the seemingly intractable water conflicts in these basins. Furthermore, while the ways in which state actors promote and contest hydro-hegemony are well-known, less is understood about how non-state actors may resist, challenge, and even transform hydro-hegemonic arrangements. This dissertation addresses these gaps by achieving three goals, using the Jordan and Euphrates-Tigris basins as case studies. First, it identifies how hydropolitical relations are explained at different scales by analyzing how domestic pressures and broader international relations have influenced patterns of water conflict and cooperation. Second, this dissertation analyzes how power dynamics informs patterns of water conflict and cooperation at different scales. Third, this dissertation also identifies opportunities for the development of more equitable transboundary water arrangements in situations of power asymmetry. By achieving these three goals, this dissertation helps draw clearer links between local-level interactions and inter-state relations, helping academics and policymakers deliver more equitable and sustainable water management solutions.
As part of this research, Dr. Turgul created the Water Interactions Database for the Jordan River Basin and the Water Interactions Database for the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin. Each dataset houses the most comprehensive collection of water-related events for each basin, with each event ranked for its conflict/cooperation intensity. The datasets are available to download here:
Water Interactions Database for the Jordan River Basin:
Water Interactions Database for the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin:
Dr. Turgul also expanded on the Framework of Hydro-Hegemony for her research, creating the Typology of Actions to Promote Hydro-Hegemony and the Typology of Actions to Promote Counter-Hegemony to illustrate the diverse strategies that non-state actors utilize to promote and contest transboundary water arrangements. Further information about these typologies can be found in Dr. Turgul's dissertation - Power, Water, and Peace in the Middle East: A Multi-Scalar Analysis of Power and Hydropolitics in the Jordan and Euphrates-Tigris River Basins - available on OSU's Scholar's Archive.
Related Publications:
Turgul, A., & Warner, J. (2025). Multilevel Hydropolitics in the Euphrates–Tigris River Basin. In World Scientific Handbook of Transboundary Water Management: Science, Economics, Policy and Politics: Volume 4: Transboundary Water Management Across Scales: Understanding the Domestic-International Interplay (pp. 179-208).