The Environment: a Weapon of Destruction or a Giver of Dignity

Karolina Beshenich

Introduction

On June 5, 2023, the Kakhovka dam was destroyed. As a result, tens of thousands of hectares of farmable land were flooded and thousands of acres more were placed at risk of desertification.

Added to the agricultural devastation, the ecosystem that housed birds, animals, and fish was destroyed – and many of its creatures were displaced or killed.

The Environment: a Weapon of Destruction or a Giver of Dignity — Kakhovka dam was destroyed

The impact on the human element was also devastating. Together, it introduces the usage of water as a strategic tool for achieving political ends as an interesting point of analysis.

It also demonstrates a perversion of the life-giving quality of water, as its power is weaponized. With its natural purpose subverted, the dignity of nature is taken, along with the dignity of the people whose lives are impacted because of it. Years ago, an inversion of this event occurred in Iraq, where water was utilized by Saddam Hussein to secure his rule, punish dissenters, and flush out his opposition.

In the cases of the Kakhova dam and Iraq, the utilization of nature as a means to impair or destroy the enemy was done by weaponizing nature’s life-giving attributes to instead cause mass destruction and directly attack human dignity in order to achieve end-state political goals.

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Several decades ago, over 300,000 people belonging to the Ma’dan ethnic group (the Marsh Arabs) lived on their ancestral lands near the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. In contemporary times, the number at one point dwindled to an estimated 100,000 people.[1]

The shift in demographics occurred as the Ma’adan people were driven from their region by Saddam Hussein following the 1991 Gulf War. In response to their refusal to support his incursion into Kuwait, the dictator punished the tribe’s resistance by destroying the land of their fathers.

From 1991-1993, Hussein’s government constructed a series of canals that were designed to cut off the Marshlands from access to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers – diverting water to other areas of agricultural significance to the regime and draining the Marshlands.[2]

Nature was utilized for its life-giving power – by the deprivation of water – and ultimately levied against a group of people and their home as a weapon to cause terror and mass destruction.

Without access to water, the Marsh Arabs – a people who formerly derived their living from fishing, farming, and other activities related to the marshlands and their specific geography, faced a crisis. Their way of life was devastated, and their stability erased. Without water to sustain their fertile lands, they were unable to grow food. The people were exposed to starvation, dehydration, and disease.

Their access to the safety of the marshes, which in the past had provided a place for them to hide from Hussein’s military, was effectively destroyed. And their lands were laid to waste. With no alternative, an entire ethnic group was forced from their homes. 40,000 Marsh Arabs fled to Iran, whereas tens of thousands more either migrated within Iraq or abroad to other countries.

They lost their livelihoods, their homes, their friends – and with the loss of these parts of their lives, their dignity was violated. As uncertainty and fear were introduced into their lives by the destruction of their homeland’s natural environment, they were ultimately deprived of peace.[3]

Turning one’s glance toward Ukraine, it is possible to see equally horrifying outcomes from the utilization of nature as a weapon. The devastating consequences of the Kakhovka dam’s destruction are wide-reaching. When used correctly, water sustains life and promotes growth. Yet, from an environmental perspective, Ukrainian farmland was destroyed and inundated with toxic sludge.

Critical infrastructure was damaged. Crops that are needed to feed Ukraine and other parts of the world were eliminated. Thousands of Ukrainians were forced to flee the floodwaters.

Many Ukrainian people were forced to cope with homelessness and additional stress was placed on the already-strained aid resources available in Ukraine and the neighboring countries who have worked to care for the Ukrainian people since the onset of the war.

Kakhovka Dam — The devastating consequences of the Kakhovka dam’s destruction are wide-reaching

Economically and infrastructurally, the consequences are deep and wide-reaching. A year on, and it is easy to see that the dam was destroyed at a convenient time – the Ukrainian counter-offensive was swinging into action.

As the Ukrainian military rallied the hope of the battered Ukrainian people, the dam’s breaching seemed to challenge the narrative of potential victory by attacking the livelihood and homes of the long-suffering Ukrainians.

However, the dam’s explosion was really only a part of the process of targeting the Ukrainian people. Regardless of who wins the war, it will take years to recover from the dam’s destruction, and these years will require specialized and concentrated help. Yet, there is hope.

And this is what is important to remember in the face of immense destruction and pain. The night always gives way to dawn. And evil must give way to the light of good.

Ukraine Dam destruction — Kakhovka dam’s destruction

In 2003, following the end of Saddam’s regime, the local people breached the dams on the Euphrates to let the river water reclaim the marshes. Environmental experts worked with the Marsh Arabs to understand how to effectively recreate the ecosystem that had been destroyed.

Years later, in 2016, the marshes were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. By 2020, nearly 250,000 of the Marsh Arabs returned to their ancestral land.[4]

Numerous scientists and ecological groups have worked to bring the Marshlands back. Now the challenge is environmental as the region struggles with drought and climate change. Nonetheless, even as this test is approached, it is a reminder that evil men come and go.

They will leave their mark on history and a region. Yet, the resilience of human nature rises again and again and inspires the restoration of the dignity of the environment and people that was taken by an entity for its own purposes.

In the nearly one year since the dam’s explosion, the floodwaters have receded and the Ukrainian people continue to fight. They continue to receive aid from their allies around the world, even as Russia persists.

Yet, what can be seen? Nature was used as a weapon to target people. In the wake of this event, as many people initially found themselves homeless because of the Russian regime, they were met with the kindness of people and sheltered.

People around the world continued to (and still do) send clothing, food, support, medical equipment, and aid to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

Even as Russia attempts to take the dignity of the Ukrainian people by destroying their home and their livelihoods, the kindness of people meets this evil head-on and challenges its narrative.

In 1991, Saddam Hussein planned the destruction of the Marshlands as being the end to the Marsh Arabs. What he did not anticipate was the resilience of the Marsh Arabs who left and later returned – determined to restore their homeland with the help of the international community.

Putin set out in 2022 to use his military operation to capitulate Ukraine. What he did not anticipate was the resilience of the Ukrainian people, who were determined to defend their homeland and have been aided by the international community – which is equally determined to fight.

Human dignity can be violated and attacked by one person. Yet, it can be restored by another. The environment’s dignity can be violated as it is utilized to attack human dignity when its natural power is used to facilitate end-state political goals through destruction.

Yet, the dignity of the environment can be restored as its power is allowed to fulfill its naturally life-giving function, rather than be misused for its strength and force.

And by allowing nature to fulfill this function, the flourishing of dignified human life is also enabled. It is then for mankind to uphold and honour the dignity of the environment in their lives.

[1] “Iraq: Traditional Agriculture by Marsh Arabs in the Southern Marshes”.Satoyama Initiative. June 2012.Online. Accessed May 8, 2024.https://satoyama-initiative.org/case_studies/iraq-traditional-agriculture-by-marsh-arabs-in-the-southern-marshes/

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Forgotten people: The Marsh Arabs of Iraq.” ReliefWeb. June 2003. Online. Accessed May 210, 2024. https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/forgotten-people-marsh-arabs-iraq

[4] W. Crisp. “After Comeback, Southern Iraq’s Marshes Are Now Drying Up.” Yale Environment 360. January 2023. Online. Accessed May 20, 2024.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/iraq-marshes-drought-climate-change

Karolina Beshenich is the Russian area researcher, from Cracow, Małopolskie, Poland. [ She is a motivated individual who is passionate about facilitating cross-cultural understanding. The key to bridging gaps in communication lies in openness and the willingness to look though the other’s perspective. With an extensive academic background in Russia and the Eastern European area, she is able to help others build their understanding of modern political problems and build solutions. As an author and analyst,she can explain how critical problems were solves and put it the strategy into the written word for future problem-solvers to use as a reference point.]

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