This is the first of two volumes that, taken together, provide an integrated picture of the environmental consequences arising from international conflicts. The volumes build upon the successful book Environmental Consequences of War and Aftermath published in The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry in 2009. The books focus on environmental consequences only and discuss land degradation, erosion, water scarcity and pollution, water resources management, air pollution, desertification, deforestation, food scarcity and radioactive contamination, among others. This volume addresses conflicts in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa), covering historical and more recent events such as water conflicts, military conflicts, migration and overpopulation, and infrastructure projects. Readers will also find several chapters in this book on the theory of international conflicts and their impact on the environment in general. Given its breadth, this book appeals to environmental scientists, policy makers, and researchers interested in the environmental impacts of international conflicts.
Prof. Alexander V. Semenov is a Professor and Rector of S.Yu. Witte Moscow University (Moscow, Russia), and Honorary Professor at the Higher School of Finance and Management (Bialystok, Poland). With a PhD in Economics, he authored 150+ scientific publications, and authored/edited 30 books, including the encyclopedia of the White, East Siberian, Baltic, Adriatic, Ionian Seas and the Arctic Ocean, published in 2014-2020 in the publishing house "International Relations" (Russia) and "Springer" (Germany).
Prof. Igor S. Zonn holds a PhD in Geography and is a full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Honored Meliorator of the Russian Federation, and General Director of the Engineering Research and Production Center for Land Reclamation, Water Management and Ecology "Soyuzvodproekt" (Moscow, Russia). He is also member of the editorial board of the international Journal "Problems of Desert" (Turkmenistan), member of the Editorial Board of the Journal "Arid Ecosystems", founder and Editor-in-Chief (since 1996) of the magazine "The Caspian Sea Bulletin". He authored 450+ scientific articles and 50 monographs, and books like the encyclopedias of the Black, Caspian, Aral, Japan, Okhotsk, Bering, Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, Baltic, Adriatic, Ionian seas, Arctic Ocean and Danube River, published in 2004-2020 in publishing houses "International Relations" (Russia) and "Springer" (Germany).
Prof. Dr. Andrey G. Kostianoy is a Chief Scientist at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia), a Visiting Professor at the University of Liege (Belgium), and a Honorary Professor of Tver State University (Russia) and Maykop State Technological University (Russia). With a PhD in Physico-Mathematical Sciences, he is a specialist in physical oceanography and satellite remote sensing. His research has focused on satellite monitoring, oceanography, regional climate change and environmental problems of the Black, Caspian, Aral, and Baltic seas. He is Editor-in-Chief of the book series "The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry" and "Springer Water" from Springer (Germany), and of the "Journal of Oceanological Research" (Russia). He is a member of the editorial boards of a dozen Russian and international journals. He author 350+ peer-reviewed papers, and authored and/or edited 75 books, including the Encyclopedia of the Black, Caspian, Aral, Japan, Okhotsk, Bering, Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, Baltic, Adriatic, Ionian seas and Arctic Ocean, published in 2006-2020 in publishing houses "International Relations" (Russia) and "Springer" (Germany).
Prof. Sergey S. Zhiltsov is a Professor at the RUDN University, named after Patrice Lumumba Moscow, Russia and also Editor-in-Chief of scientific journals "Problems of the Post-Soviet Space" and the bulletin of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs "Russia and the World". With a Phd in Political Sciences, his scientific interests focus on foreign and domestic policies of the post-Soviet countries, the problems of regional integration in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, and foreign and domestic policies of Ukraine and Moldova. He authored 40+ scientific articles and 10 monographs on various problems of the Caspian Region, published in Russia and also by Springer (Germany). Among them are: "Geopolitics of the Caspian Region" (2003), "New Caspian Sea" (2008), "Caspian Pipeline Geopolitics" (2011), "Caspian Sea. Encyclopedia" (2015), "Oil and Gas Pipelines in the Black-Caspian Seas Region" (2016), "Caspian Region: Politics, Economy, Cooperation"(2017), "Russia's Policy in the Caspian Region" (2019).
Prof. Abdelazim Negm is a Professor of Hydraulics (and Water Resources management) at the Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University (ZU), Egypt, since 2004. He was the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of ZU from 12/2008 to 12/2011 and was the Head of the Environmental Engineering Department at Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), Egypt, from October 2013 to March 2016. With 400+ papers in national and international journals and conferences, Prof. Negm has also contributed to 50+ book chapters and edited 50+ books, including some volumes in The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry book series from Springer. He was the editor-in-chief of EIJEST during the period of 2017-2020, an editor of the EMJEI, which is published by Springer, and an associate editor of the Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences and Scientific African Journal, which is published by Elsevier. He is a guest editor at Springer, MDPI and Frontiers leading several special issues. He was also the Head of the permanent scientific committee on Water Resources, the supreme council of Egyptian Universities, Egypt. Prof. Negm is listed in the most famous and prestigious directories in the world including the American Biographical Institute (ABI), Inc, USA, "Marquis Who's Who in the World," 27th Ed., 2010, USA, until now and in IBC's 2000 as an Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century by International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England, since 2011 until the present. He was nominated for various awards by both ABI and IBC during the period 2011-2012.
