Climate, Water and Militias: A Field Study From Southern Iraq

The document examines the link between environmental collapse and militarization in southern Iraq, specifically how water scarcity and agricultural failure have made militia recruitment an economic necessity for rural populations. It details a history of ecological trauma, state neglect, and the role of upstream damming in Turkey and Iran, which have collectively gutted the local economy and pushed residents toward either migration or armed groups.

• Environmental degradation and water scarcity in southern Iraq have directly fueled the militarization of society by gutting the bedrocks of the rural economy, including agriculture, fishing, and buffalo breeding.
• Militias have successfully recruited desperate rural youth by offering signing bonuses and employment to those whose livelihoods vanished due to low and saline river flows; in some cases, recruiters exploited geographical ignorance to suggest the Islamic State had penetrated further south than it had.
• Senior leaders from the Badr and Saraya al-Salam organizations estimate that 55-60% of their fighters come from rural areas, a figure more than double their share of the general population.
• The region's ecological crisis is the result of long-term trauma, including the destruction of date palm plantations during the Iran-Iraq war, the draining of the Mesopotamian marshes under Saddam Hussein, and the collapse of wastewater and irrigation infrastructure during the 1990s and U.S.-led invasion.
• Water shortages are exacerbated by the construction of numerous large dams in Turkey and Iran within the Tigris and Euphrates basins, which has significantly reduced the volume of water reaching southern Iraqi farming communities.
• State neglect and a fixation on oil revenues have left southern farmers vulnerable, with the government failing to provide adequate water planning or consistent agricultural support despite the region producing roughly 90% of Iraq's oil.
• The combination of environmental stress and economic desperation has led to significant rural-to-urban migration, with residents moving to cities such as Basra, Baghdad, and Nasiriyah, often competing for day labor and increasing urban tension.

APA

Schwartzstein, P. (2023). Climate, Water and Militias: A Field Study From Southern Iraq. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/39-WaterMilitiasSouthernIraq.pdf

Chicago

Schwartzstein, Peter. Climate, Water and Militias: A Field Study From Southern Iraq. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2023. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/39-WaterMilitiasSouthernIraq.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schwartzstein |first1=Peter |title=Climate, Water and Militias: A Field Study From Southern Iraq |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=11 January 2023 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/39-WaterMilitiasSouthernIraq.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schwartzstein2023climate, author = {Schwartzstein, Peter}, title = {{Climate, Water and Militias: A Field Study From Southern Iraq}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/39-WaterMilitiasSouthernIraq.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }