David Michel

Senior Fellow, Global Food and Water Security Program
David Michel

David Michel is the senior fellow for water security with the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). His work explores the emerging challenges and policy solutions to growing pressures on the world’s interdependent water, food, energy, and climate systems. Before joining CSIS, he served as senior researcher with the Environment of Peace 2022 initiative at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, supporting governments and social institutions to anticipate, evaluate, and address complex ecological risks. As senior manager in the Transboundary Water Department with the Stockholm International Water Institute from 2017–2019, he worked to promote cooperative resources governance in major river basins across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. From 2010–2015 he was founding director of the Environmental Security Program at the Stimson Center. David has written widely on water and climate security, environmental resilience, and sustainable resources management, and has contributed policy analyses and strategic risk assessments for government agencies, development institutions, and international organizations such as the World Bank, United Nations, and U.S. National Intelligence Council. His analyses appear in academic and policy journals including Applied Energy, Journal of Hydrology, Water International, and Foreign Policy, and have featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Voice of America, and the BBC. He was educated at Yale University, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

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Executive Education

Global Foresight: Preparing for Future Trends

Global Foresight: Preparing for Future Trends is Washington’s premier executive course for mid-to senior-level professionals responsible for helping their organizations identify and prepare for the global macrotrends that will drive change for the next 30 years.

Course Date: October 20, 2025
Registration Closes: October 13, 2025

Can India Cut Off Pakistan’s Indus River Lifeline?

In retaliation for a deadly militant attack in Pahalgam, India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, threatening to block Pakistan’s vital water supplies and risking regional stability in South Asia.

Critical Questions by David Michel — May 1, 2025

Audio Briefs

Can India Cut Off Pakistan’s Indus River Lifeline?

An audio version of “⁠⁠Can India Cut Off Pakistan’s Indus River Lifeline?⁠⁠,” a new Critical Questions by CSIS's David Michel. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by David Michel — May 1, 2025

Audio Briefs
Hidden Depths

Protecting Water in Conflict

In this episode of Hidden Depths, host David Michel breaks down necessary steps for protecting water resources in conflict zones.

Podcast Episode by David Michel — April 7, 2025

Photo: CSIS
Hidden Depths

Water Diplomacy and Peacebuilding

Join us for the conclusion of Hidden Depths as we look forward to a cooperative future for this most critical resource.

Podcast Episode by David Michel — April 7, 2025

Photo: CSIS
The Truth of the Matter

Hidden Depths: Water as a Resource and a Weapon

CSIS’s David Michel, senior fellow for water security in the CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program, joins the podcast to discuss global water conflict and the risks that water security poses to U.S. geopolitical and economic interests.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and David Michel — March 25, 2025

CSIS the truth of the matter
Hidden Depths

Water as a driver of conflict 

David Michel examines water as a contributing driver of conflict in Myanmar and the Sahel before looking ahead to the future of water governance under increasing socio-economic and environmental pressures.

Podcast Episode by David Michel — March 24, 2025

Photo: CSIS
Hidden Depths

New forms of water conflict 

David Michel looks at attacks on water by terrorist groups and examines how digitalization creates cybersecurity vulnerabilities for the water sector and everything that depends on it.

Podcast Episode by David Michel — March 24, 2025

Photo: CSIS