THE SOUTHERN ANATOLIA PROJECT, HYDROPOLITICS, AND PATRONAGE

Abstract

The natural realities of international transboundary rivers and the discourses surrounding them often center on the substantial multi-sector investment in large-scale dam projects within these basins. These dam projects often cause much dispute, as is the case in the Nile and Mekong Basins (Veilleux, 2014). These investment projects limit the water resources that reach the downstream riparian nations of those same basins. The Southern Anatolia GAP project and its posited effects on Iraqi water networks are prime examples of this occurrence. The Southern Anatolia Project (Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi in Turkish or abbreviated as GAP) is a large-scale series of 22 dams, 19 hydropower plants, and an irrigation network spanning 1.7 million hectares of land within the Turkish borders (Unver, 1997: 453). Much of the literature examining the GAP project and similar cases of hydropolitics employ frameworks that focus on the power relationships between nation-states within the regional realm; while excluding international non-state and domestic patrimonial actors.

This piece will argue that a Gramscian inspired lens can be applied to the study of the Euphrates-Tigris Basin by expanding two-level theory to include a third level; creating a three-level game. This expansion provides a lens to better understand transboundary issues in a more encompassing manner as river basins are subject to sub-national, regional, and international political pressure. This thesis will argue that the international private sector, and sub-state clientele networks, have been more influential in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin's water distribution than multilateral, regional transboundary water dialogues have been. It will also argue that a third international level profoundly influences regional and sub-state actors. In order to unpack Gramscian notions of hegemony, this piece has conducted a brief analysis of the private sector and patrimonial distribution networks in the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin to be expanded further in the future.