Sharing water resources in the Levant: a legal gateway to peace.

The current legal framework that dictates the water distribution in the Levant can be considered as inapt and insufficient in the way it overlooks the populations' current needs. Negotiated upon through a series of bilateral conventions that favoured the interests of some sovereign states at the expense of others, today's legal framework is sustaining the long-standing political tensions in the region. In hindsight, it appears as though the bilateral conventions have shaped a status quo that failed to take into account the vital characteristic of the natural resource in question and its essential need to be shared and equitably distributed in an approach that subscribes within the common interest. Today, although the international water distribution practices witnessed significant evolution, the Levant region nevertheless still finds itself enacting an outdated framework, one that overlooks the hydrological unity of the Jordan Basin. In practice, the bilateral conventions led to a sectarian division of resources as opposed to a more balanced and fair regional one allowing a full implementation to the principles of equitable and non harmful use of international water. These customary principles, now codified, can't fully be effective through this lacking and deficient legal framework. However, the Levant's water resources can go from being the bearer of regional tension, to triggering a series of cooperative talks. With a high number of imperatives at stake it is only a matter of time until the regional players reconvene and adopt a more suitable and equitable distribution practice. Doing so would bring about new levels of institutionalized and cooperative practices, which would ultimately lead to a strong affirmation of peace in the region.