Four Decades of Conflict and Water Governance in Iraq: A Literature Review of the Structural Impacts of Successive Wars (1980–2020)

Abstract

This paper analyses the structural impacts of armed conflicts on Iraq’s water resources sector from 1980 to 2020, covering wars (Iraq-Iran War, Gulf War, Post-2003 period, and ISIS). Based on a multidisciplinary literature review, the study identifies four main pathways through which conflicts have shaped the sector’s operational environment: (1) physical damage to infrastructure; (2) constraints on long-term planning; (3) disruptions of hydrological time-series data; and erosion of human capacities and institutional memory. These cumulative effects cannot be understood in isolation from the broader context of instability. Comparisons with Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan reveal a common international pattern where institutional recovery lags behind infrastructure rehabilitation. The paper concludes that armed conflicts have cumulatively and structurally affected Iraq's water sector, and sustainable recovery requires integrated approaches that simultaneously address technical, institutional, and human dimensions.