GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

The Water Wars Waged by the Islamic State

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Ambika Vishwanath
Board of Contributors

Nov 25, 2015 | 08:00 GMT

A picture taken on February 1, 2016, shows the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River, around 50 kilometres north of the Iraqi city of Mosul. The United States is monitoring Iraq's largest dam for signs of further deterioration that could point to an impending catastrophic collapse, US army officers said on January 28, 2016. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group seized the Mosul Dam briefly in 2014, leading to a lapse in maintenance that weakened an already flawed structure, and Baghdad is seeking a company to make

A picture taken on February 1, 2016, shows the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River, around 50 kilometres north of the Iraqi city of Mosul. The United States is monitoring Iraq's largest dam for signs of further deterioration that could point to an impending catastrophic collapse, US army officers said on January 28, 2016. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group seized the Mosul Dam briefly in 2014, leading to a lapse in maintenance that weakened an already flawed structure, and Baghdad is seeking a company to make repairs.

(SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

The Islamic State's use of natural resources to achieve its strategic goals is nothing new. Oil, one of the group's biggest sources of funding, plays an especially important role in its calculations -- something the countries fighting the Islamic State are increasingly coming to realize. And they have begun to adjust their target sets accordingly....

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