🥁 @kmkentel.bsky.social and I have a new book coming out very soon! “Istanbul Unbound” will be the inaugural volume in the new series Transregional Middle Easts from @uofupress.bsky.social 🥂 Thanks to support from @fwf-at.bsky.social it will be fully Open Access 🎊 uofupress.com/books/istanb...

My interview with @sciam.bsky.social and @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social on desalination, environmental risk, Iran, and war in the Gulf.

Scientific American@sciam.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Direct attacks, oil spills and the threat of nuclear waste are putting the Gulf region’s desalination plants at risk—here’s why that matters

The repeated Iranian attacks to #Kuwait’s power and #desalination plants are cruel and criminal. The current US government’s unsteadiness and disdain for the rules-based-order makes the world increasingly dangerous for smaller states. aje.news/vtvz59?updat...

Iran rejects Trump’s 48-hr ultimatum; fire erupts at Kuwait oil complex

Iran says US-Israeli attacks on the Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone have killed five and wounded 170.

aje.news

I spoke to @lapresse.ca about desalination and the war in the Gulf. « C’est assez asymétrique : les usines de dessalement représentent une petite portion de la tarte en Iran, alors que pour les pays du Golfe, c’est une inquiétude absolument existentielle », dit M. Low.

L’eau dans la ligne de mire du conflit

Depuis le début de la guerre au Moyen-Orient, des experts suivent l’escalade avec une crainte particulière : le ciblage d’usines de dessalement. Les deux camps ont menacé de s’en prendre à ces infrast...

lapresse.ca

As feared, a Kuwaiti power and desalination plant has been struck again. The infrastructure wars have unleashed “ecological terror.”

M. Christopher Low@mchrislow.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I spoke to France 24 (@en.france24.bsky.social) about desalination and “ecological terror” in the Gulf. f24.my/BpvT

Once again, a desalination plant in Kuwait has been struck. An immediate deescalation is needed to stop the spiral of infrastructural attacks between the US, Israel, and Iran. These are clear violations of international law.

The Associated Press@apnews.com · 4mo ago

BREAKING: Kuwait said an Iranian attack damaged a desalination plant. The attack came after an oil refinery was hit by drones Friday morning. About 90% of drinking water in Kuwait comes from desalination.

I spoke to France 24 (@en.france24.bsky.social) about desalination and “ecological terror” in the Gulf. f24.my/BpvT

'Strategy of ecological terror. Desalination as a weapon of war' in the Middle East

f24.my

My latest... desalination plants and nuclear targets... the escalation continues. Iran’s Water Weapon Against the Gulf by Michael Christopher Low @projectsyndicate.bsky.social prosyn.org/ZOpBprB

Iran’s Water Weapon Against the Gulf

Michael Christopher Low worries that any bid by the US to seize Kharg Island could jeopardize the region’s desalination facilities.

prosyn.org

the media is now telling people to work from home to save on gasoline, immediately after their years-long crusade to tell us why returning to office is best for everyone. this isn't a gotcha, it's an example of how contradicting demands allow the ruling class to blame us no matter what we do

🚨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.🚨

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...

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...

insideclimatenews.org

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

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...

arab.news

I spoke to Newsweek on desalination and the war in the Gulf. www.newsweek.com/drinking-wat...

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.

newsweek.com

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...

🇨🇦 Yesterday, I spoke to @globalnews.ca about desalination and the vulnerability of Gulf water infrastructures. globalnews.ca/video/117216...

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

globalnews.ca

“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...

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)

wkyc.com

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

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.

apnews.com

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.

Indian coverage... Does anyone have confirmation of the Iranian Foreign Minister's claim? www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoP0...

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

YouTube video by CNN-News18

youtube.com

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

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...

The Gulf Countries Can’t Take Much More

Iran is exposing their vulnerabilities.

theatlantic.com

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...

“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

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

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” 🎊

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.

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-...

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...

compactmag.com

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

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?

Mark Copelovitch@mcopelov.bsky.social · last yr.

The entire business model of American R1 universities is not viable without restoration of federal funding, & every individual institution pretending it can solve this problem alone is also not viable. University presidents need to be speaking out, collectively & loudly about this, in DC, right now.