Reframing intangibles: Bridging implementation gaps in contested water infrastructure projects in the Middle East

Water infrastructure projects in transboundary conflict settings, such as the Middle East, are shaped by political tensions, governance fragility and competing narratives. Traditional assessment approaches of water projects focus on tangible factors such as water volume, cost-benefit analyses and technical feasibility; while intangibles, including peace dividends, trust building, cooperation and inclusion, remain insufficiently operationalized and underexplored for optimizing decision-making processes. This paper addresses this gap by deductively applying the concept of intangibles – categorized as human, structural and social capital, as established in corporate finance – to the planning and implementation of contested water infrastructure projects. Drawing on examples from the Middle East, including the Red-Dead Canal and the Jordan-Israel water-energy exchange project, the paper outlines how neglecting intangibles may exacerbate mistrust, stall cooperation and undermine project progress. Overall, the paper aspires to propose a typology of intangibles and to demonstrate the potential of operationalizing them in water projects within a politically sensitive region.