A writer for Britain's The Times sees the first water war coming uncomfortably close, and that drought, migration and climate change are threatening hostilities across the Middle East and Africa.

In his article, Roger Boys cited the satirist Mark Twain's quote, "Whiskey is for drinking and water for fighting," pointing out that this is the state of the Middle East and beyond at the present time.

Boys pointed out that disagreements over how to allocate the waters of the world's major rivers - the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates, to name a few - have been raging for centuries but have not reached the point of total war.

He warned that climate change, rising sea temperatures and extreme weather fluctuations may lead to approaching the first direct water war since the days of ancient Mesopotamia.

The writer believes that the water war in the 21st century can come in two forms, the first will be in a poorly managed or panicked response to rising seas, as about 150 million people live one meter or less above current sea levels, and many will be displaced and become refugees due to climate, which creates great instability.

And the other form of war may be around the corner, and the writer said that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi warned Ethiopia that he would not rule out the use of military force if the “Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” meant that the Egyptians lost the waters of the Nile River with its low level.

Weak nations around the world are close to collapse because they have lost control of the three foundations: water, oxygen, and bread, as this is how government performance is measured.

The writer hinted that weak countries around the world are close to collapse, because they have lost control of the three foundations: water, oxygen and bread, as this is how the performance of the government is measured.

He gave an example in Iran, where drought spoils summer agriculture, pointing out that demonstrators in the southern province of Khuzestan chanted, "I am thirsty."

Al-Raqqa Bridge and the apparent decrease in the water level of the Euphrates River (Al-Jazeera)

In northeastern Syria, which is the breadbasket of the country, water supplies are low due to the weak flow across the Euphrates River from Turkey, and in Iraq farmers have been asked not to plant summer crops.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food prices in the Middle East have almost reached the level of February 2011.

This should raise alarm bells across the region, because the cost of food in early 2011 was one of the factors that contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings.

He added that Middle East wars usually erupt when a failed geopolitically sensitive state like Yemen collapses and powerful neighbors gather on it for the spoils. Without electricity, or Iraq, which depends on Iran for electricity, or Somalia, where they eat locusts, this is what makes anger escalate.

The author concluded his article by offering a solution to what can be done and how to prepare for it, by encouraging a new, interdisciplinary field of resource diplomacy.

He imagined himself that if he had been in charge of aid policy for a day he would have called a staff meeting and yelled at them, “Water! Water! Everywhere,” because that is the problem that should haunt us all.