M. Christopher Low

🚨Breaking News from US officials: Everything is under control. Iran is on the verge of unconditional surrender. Ships may proceed through the Strait of Hormuz.🚨

Attacks on Middle East Desalination Plants Highlight Risks of Near-Total Dependence on ‘Fossil Fuel Water’ - Inside Climate News Destroying the facilities is a violation of international law that could cause a humanitarian crisis in the most water-scare region on Earth. Powering the plants with electricity from fossil fuels pos...

More on desalination, climate, and war in the Gulf in conversation with @mckennapr of @insideclimate

Attacks on Middle East Desalination Plants Highlight Risks of Near-Total Dependence on ‘Fossil Fuel Water’

insideclimatenews.org/news/1103202...

Are water desalination plants the Gulf’s Achilles’ in the latest Middle East conflict? LONDON: Wars in the Middle East have long been measured in spikes to global oil prices, the sight of burning refineries, and missile trails crisscrossing over busy shipping lanes. Now, for the first t...

I spoke to GabrieleMalvisi with Arab News about desalination and the terrible situation that the US, Israel, and Iran have put the Arabian Peninsula in.

arab.news/v3cds

Drinking water warning issued for millions as Iran war threatens supply Conflict is placing drinking water at risk as missile and drone strikes encroach on desalination plants that sustain the region.

I spoke to Newsweek on desalination and the war in the Gulf.

www.newsweek.com/drinking-wat...

As good an image as any to illustrate America’s contribution to Middle East peace, order, and stability over the last 30 years.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0FW...

US-Iran war: Growing concern for Gulf nations’ water supply | Watch News Videos Online Watch US-Iran war: Growing concern for Gulf nations’ water supply Video Online, on GlobalNews.ca

🇨🇦 Yesterday, I spoke to @globalnews.ca about desalination and the vulnerability of Gulf water infrastructures.

globalnews.ca/video/117216...

Oil built the Persian Gulf. Desalinated water keeps it alive. War could threaten both. As the conflict with Iran widens, experts say the Middle East’s real strategic weak point may be water – not oil. (AP Photo)

“During Iraq’s 1990-1991 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War, Iraqi forces sabotaged power stations and desalination facilities as they retreated, said the University of Utah's Low.”

www.wkyc.com/article/news...

Iran doesn’t have much desalination capacity to hit, but the whole Arab Gulf does. Also, independent verification was an issue yesterday.

Bahrain says Iran hit a desalination plant, stoking fears of attacks on civilian sites Bahrain has accused Iran of striking a desalination plant as the regional war expands and targets more civilian sites.

⚠️ Iranian drone strike on a desalination plant in Bahrain! We have entered a frightening new phase of escalation.

apnews.com/article/iran...

Fossil fuels are critical to the desalination ecosystem, but they need not be near oil infrastructures. It is, however, very common to have conjoined desalination + power plants to take advantages of energy efficiencies.

If it is confirmed that the US has directly attacked the Qeshm desalination facility, this government would join Saddam Hussein’s 90-91 attacks in Kuwait and Houthi strikes vs. Shuqaiq in 2019/2022. Not good company for the US.

Maryam, one of things that worried me about the damage done to Fujairah F1 (UAE) and Doha West (Kuwait) is drone interceptions around ports, electric infrastructures, and/or oil infrastructures could inadvertently hit desalination units. Proximity is a problem. US direct targeting is a grave crime.

Thanks so much for the kind endorsement.

Water Desalination Plant Destroyed In US-Iran Attack, 30 Villages Left Without Water In Iran| News18 YouTube video by CNN-News18

Indian coverage... Does anyone have confirmation of the Iranian Foreign Minister's claim?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoP0...

@aljazeera.com reporting Seyed Abbas Araghchi's claim that the US has attacked Iranian desalination facilities on Qeshm Island.

x.com/AJEnglish/st...

The Gulf Countries Can’t Take Much More Iran is exposing their vulnerabilities.

For more on the terrifying prospect of attacks on desalination plants in the Gulf, I was also quoted in Robert Worth's piece in the Atlantic.

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Iran claims that the US has attacked a desalination plant on Qeshm Island. If this is true, it sets a terrifying precedent. As I wrote in @theconversation.com yesterday, the Gulf's water infrastructure is its greatest vulnerability. If true, this is a war crime.

www.ndtv.com/world-news/i...

Persian Gulf desalination plants could become military targets in regional war Key sources of drinking water have been targets in past conflicts. And Iranian strikes have already hit close to some.

“The region’s monarchies are often described as petro-states, but they have also become what I call saltwater kingdoms, global superpowers in the production of human-made fresh water drawn from the sea.”

theconversation.com/persian-gulf...

Persian Gulf desalination plants could become military targets in regional war Key sources of drinking water have been targets in past conflicts. And Iranian strikes have already hit close to some.

theconversation.com/persian-gulf...

Just signed a contract with the @uofupress.bsky.social for the publication of the volume I co-edit with @kmkentel.bsky.social, “Istanbul Unbound: Environmental Approaches to the City” 🎊

Congratulations! Tebrikler! We are so excited to work with you on this exciting project!

Super excited about the new MA we are launching next academic year (in September 2025) at Exeter. I have been reviewing loads of MAs elsewhere and designed a programme that helps both those who are looking for critical intellectual engagement, AND paths to career development.

How Business Metrics Broke the University In a recent interview with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, the conservative activist Christopher Rufo pivoted from his usual focus on the ideological biases of higher education...

Universities used DEI to attract students and then used the backlash to gut faculty power and faculty governance. And not enough people have noticed. www.compactmag.com/article/how-...

It's a bad sign that I, a US professor with two kids who will be applying to college in the next few years, am exploring the process of them applying to universities outside of America. The Trump administration is on the verge of destroying US higher education, where we have long been a world leader

Screenshot from Heller’s article in latest New Yorker quoting donors targeting faculty

Silicon Valley is coming for faculty governance. The vultures are circling the corpse of the neoliberal American university. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Today would be yet another good day for university presidents to loudly, collectively, & publicly start defending our institutions & industry. The silence is deafening & frankly, incomprehensible. What exactly are you waiting for? How many Columbias, Maines, & Johns Hopkins will it take?

The Middle East Center @uofuhumanities.bsky.social and @uofupress.bsky.social are pleased to announce the launch of a new book series, Transregional Middle Easts!

uofupress.com/series/Trans...

From the Tigris and Euphrates to the Nile: The Middle East’s unresolved Water Disputes Written byRaseef22 This post by Mohamed Yousry, was first published in Arabic by Raseef 22* on February 15, 2025. This edited version was translated into English and published on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.  ( Global Voices ) –…

From the Tigris and Euphrates to the Nile: The Middle East’s unresolved Water Disputes

Congratulations, Marc!