Professional Affiliation

Associate Professor of International Relations and Seif Ghobash Chair in Arab Studies, Georgetown University

Expert Bio

Dr. Marwa Daoudy is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (SFS) and the Seif Ghobash Chair in Arab Studies at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Amongst her recent publications features a report on A Year of Climate Science in Review written with 65 leading scientists and launched at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) (November 2022) as well as articles titled What is Climate Change? Framing Risks around Water, Food and Migration in the Middle East and North Africa (w/ J. Sowers and E. Weinthal) (WIREs Water, 2022), Water Weaponization in the Syrian Conflict: Strategies of Domination and Cooperation (International Affairs, 2020), and Scorched Earth: Climate and Conflict in the Middle East (Foreign Affairs, 2022) (selected articles). Dr. Daoudy 's second book on The Origins of the Syrian Conflict: Climate Change and Human Security (Cambridge University Press, 2020) won the 2020 Harold and Margaret Sprout Prize by the International Studies Association, awarded for the best books in the field of environmental studies. She is writing a new book on climate security in the Middle East and North Africa which is under contract with Cambridge University Press. 

See her personal website for more information: http://marwadaoudy.georgetown.domains/

Expertise

• Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
• Environment
• Food and Agriculture
• History
• International Development
• Migration
• Security and Defense

Wilson Center Project

GeoClimate Security in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Bridging Climate Change, Development and Human Security

Project Summary

The most devastating human effects of climate change in the Middle East and North Africa are a function of political choices. My book, "GeoClimate Security in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Bridging Climate Change, Development and Human Security", will inform academics, policymakers, and the general public on the vulnerability arising from climate change and the constraints and opportunities involved in managing insecurity. The book will identify (1) the political, environmental, economic and security processes that are creating constraints and opportunities that directly affect human security (climate, water and food security, healthcare, migration/displacement) and economic security (income, employment, consumption, housing, education), and (2) the security consequences of leveraging natural and infrastructural resources (water, oil, dams, pipelines) for coercive purposes. I endeavor to rethink the concept and practice of security in the 21st century MENA region, the meaning of geo-political-environmental and economic vulnerability, and to conceptualize pathways to resilience across the region. The book is under contract with Cambridge University Press and the manuscript is scheduled for submission in April 2024.

Major Publications

• The Origins of the Syrian Conflict: Climate Change and Human Security (Cambridge University Press, 2020).
• Rethinking the Climate–Conflict Nexus: A Human–Environmental–Climate-Security Approach (Global Environmental Politics, 2021).
• Scorched Earth: Climate and Conflict in the Middle East (Foreign Affairs, 2022).