The Orontes River Basin is among the least researched transboundary water basins in the Middle East. The few studies on the Orontes have two main theoretical and empirical shortcomings. First, there is a lack of critical hydropolitics studies on this river. Second, those studies focus on either the Turkish–Syrian or Lebanese–Syria relations rather than analysing the case in a holistic way. Gathering both primary (international agreements, government documents, political statements and media outlets) and secondary sources, this paper seeks to answer how could Syria, as the basin hydro-hegemon, impose its control on the basin? This study argues that the lack of trilateral initiatives, which is also reflected in academic studies, is primarily due to asymmetrical power dynamics. Accordingly, Syria played a dual-game by excluding each riparian, Turkey and Lebanon, and it dealt with the issue at the bilateral interaction. Syria has used its political influence to maintain water control vis-à-vis Lebanon, while it has used non-cooperation with Turkey to exclude Turkey from decision-making processes. The paper also argues that the historical background and the political context have strongly informed Syria’s water policy. Finally, given the recent regional political developments, the paper finds that Syria’s power grip on the Orontes Basin slowly fades away because of the changes in the broader political context.

中文翻译：

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奥龙特斯河流域的水文政治和问题联系：黎巴嫩-叙利亚和叙利亚-土耳其的水文政治关系分析

奥龙特斯河流域是中东研究最少的跨界流域之一。对奥龙特人的少数研究有两个主要的理论和经验缺陷。首先，缺乏对这条河的批判性水文政治研究。其次，这些研究侧重于土耳其-叙利亚或黎巴嫩-叙利亚关系，而不是整体分析案例。本文收集主要（国际协议、政府文件、政治声明和媒体）和次要来源，试图回答叙利亚作为流域水电霸主如何控制流域？本研究认为，缺乏三边倡议，这也反映在学术研究中，主要是由于权力动态不对称。因此，叙利亚通过排除每个河岸来玩双重游戏，土耳其和黎巴嫩，它在双边互动中处理了这个问题。叙利亚利用其政治影响力维持对黎巴嫩的水资源控制，同时利用与土耳其的不合作将土耳其排除在决策过程之外。该论文还认为，历史背景和政治背景强烈影响了叙利亚的水资源政策。最后，考虑到最近的地区政治发展，本文发现叙利亚对奥龙特斯盆地的权力控制正在慢慢消失，因为更广泛的政治背景发生了变化。该论文还认为，历史背景和政治背景强烈影响了叙利亚的水资源政策。最后，考虑到最近的地区政治发展，本文发现叙利亚对奥龙特斯盆地的权力控制正在慢慢消失，因为更广泛的政治背景发生了变化。该论文还认为，历史背景和政治背景强烈影响了叙利亚的水资源政策。最后，考虑到最近的地区政治发展，本文发现叙利亚对奥龙特斯盆地的权力控制正在慢慢消失，因为更广泛的政治背景发生了变化。