This book explores the national security implications of the Arab Gulf states' reliance on desalination plants, and their related infrastructure. It provides the first systematic and comprehensive discussion of current and future threats to the supply of freshwater from a desalination plant, including actual and virtual attacks by terrorists, mechanical failure, contamination, sabotage by aggrieved workers, attacks relating to regional conflicts, as well as their vulnerability to natural disasters. It also provides a detailed analysis of the effects of a potential disruption to the water...