Water Resource Conflicts and International Security

Water Resource Conflicts and International Security PDF

Author: Dhirendra K. Vajpeyi

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0739168177

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Water Resource Conflicts and International Security: A Global Perspective is an edited collection by Dhirendra K. Vajpeyi which analyzes the increasing global demand for water in economic and social development, and the dire need to efficiently manage this vital natural resource, particularly in water-scarce countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Several environmental- and human-induced factors, such as urbanization, industrialization, climate change, and agricultural needs, have created a near-crisis situation in many countries. Subsequently, there is an increasingly intense competition to utilize available water resources in these most heavily-affected regions; transboundary rivers, lakes, and streams which are shared by more than one country pose potential for political conflict, armed conflict, and, in the best of cases, cooperation. The contributors of Water Resource Conflicts and International Security present ten case studies in seven chapters, highlighting the competition between countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In his conclusion, Dhirendra K. Vajpeyi suggests several policy measures that governments may implement in order to minimize the potential for conflict.

Water and Conflict in the Middle East

Water and Conflict in the Middle East PDF

Author: Marcus Dubois King

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020-12

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0197552633

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This volume explores the role of water in the Middle East's current economic, political and environmental transformations, which are set to continue in the near future. In addition to examining water conflict from within the domestic contexts of Iraq, Yemen and Syria-- all experiencing high levels of instability today--the contributors shed further light on how conflict over water resources has influenced political relations in the region. They interrogate how competition over water resources may precipitate or affect war in the Middle East, and assess whether or how resource vulnerability impacts fragile states and societies in the region and beyond. Water and Conflict in the Middle East is an essential contribution to our understanding of turbulence in this globally significant region.

Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy

Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy PDF

Author: David Reed

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-06-26

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 1351685465

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The prosperity and national security of the United States depend directly on the prosperity and stability of both partner and competing countries around the world. Today, U.S. interests are under rising pressure from water scarcity, extreme weather events and water-driven ecological change in key geographies of strategic interest to the U.S. Those water-driven stresses are undermining economic productivity, weakening governance systems and fraying social cohesion in scores of countries and, in the process, undermining the vitality of rural livelihoods, fostering local and ethnic conflicts, driving broad migratory movements and contributing to the growth of insurgencies and terrorist networks. While the U.S. intelligence community has steadily expanded natural resource concerns in their global threat analyses, our overseas development assistance remains locked into provision of water and hygienic services rather than responding to the full sweep of global water challenges including governance and policy failures, growing conflicts over water and the need for promoting sustainable transboundary water arrangements in partner countries. A fundamental departure from the past is urgently needed. Based on 18 case studies, Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy provides an analytical framework to help policy makers, scholars and researchers studying the intersection of U.S. foreign policy with the environment and sustainability issues, interpret the impacts of water-driven social disruptions on the stability of partner governments and U.S. interests abroad. The book also delivers specific recommendations to reorient U.S. development and diplomatic engagements that can forestall and prevent social disruptions and ensuing threats to U.S. prosperity and national security.

Water Security in the Middle East

Water Security in the Middle East PDF

Author: Jean Axelrad Cahan

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2017-01-02

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1783085673

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Water Security in the Middle East explores the extent and nature of water security problems in transboundary water systems in the Middle East. This collection of essays discusses the political and scientific contexts and the limitations of cooperation in water security. The contributors argue that while conflicts over transboundary water systems in the Middle East do occur, they tend not to be violent nor have they ever been the primary cause of a war in this region. The authors place water disputes in larger political, historical and scientific contexts and discuss how the humanities and social sciences could contribute more towards this understanding. They also contend that international sharing of scientific and technological advances can significantly increase access to water and improve water quality. While scientific advances can and should increase adaptability to changing environmental conditions, especially climate change, national institutional reform and the strengthening of joint commissions are vital. The contributors indicate ways in which transboundary cooperation may move from simple and intermittent coordination to sophisticated, adaptive and equitable modes of water management.

Water, Peace, and War

Water, Peace, and War PDF

Author: Brahma Chellaney

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-03-01

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 1442249285

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Now in an updated edition, this pioneering and authoritative study considers the profound impact of the growing global water crunch on international peace and security as well as possible ways to mitigate the crisis. Although water is essential to sustaining life and livelihoods, geostrategist Brahma Chellaney argues that it remains the world’s most underappreciated and undervalued resource. One sobering fact is that the retail price of bottled water is already higher than the international spot price of crude oil. But unlike oil, water has no substitute, raising the specter of water becoming the next flashpoint for conflict. Water war as a concept may not mesh with the conventional construct of warfare, especially for those who plan with tanks, combat planes, and attack submarines as weapons. Yet armies don’t necessarily have to march to battle to seize or defend water resources. Water wars—in a political, diplomatic, or economic sense—are already being waged between riparian neighbors in many parts of the world, fueling cycles of bitter recrimination, exacerbating water challenges, and fostering mistrust that impedes broader regional cooperation and integration. The danger is that these water wars could escalate to armed conflict or further limit already stretched food and energy production. Writing in a direct, nontechnical, and engaging style, Brahma Chellaney draws on a wide range of research from scientific and policy fields to examine the different global linkages between water and peace. Offering a holistic picture and integrated solutions, his book has become the recognized authority on the most precious natural resource of this century and how we can secure humankind’s water future.

Negotiating International Water Rights

Negotiating International Water Rights PDF

Author: Muserref Yetim

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-06-28

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0857727508

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Transboundary watercourses account for an estimated 60 per cent of global freshwater flow and support the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Yet the indeterminate status of water rights in many international watercourses presents a problem and many attempts to resolve water rights issue have failed. Knowing how and where negotiations fail is essential if successful resolution is to be achieved. Muserref Yetim's important book seeks to illustrate a means to the peaceful resolution of natural resource based conflicts. Through a detailed study of the Tigris-Euphrates water conflict, involving Turkey, Syria and Iraq, countries of vital security interest to the world at large, the author clarifies the collective action dilemmas confronting Middle Eastern watercourses and reveals the bargaining bottlenecks where negotiations fail. She develops an original framework that explains bargaining failures and proposes conditions for creating a new property rights regime among watercourse states that offers a route to governing their shared water resources in ways that are politically, economically and environmentally sound. In almost all water scarce regions, international water resources are subject to intense unilateral exploitation in a highly competitive fashion. And as demand for freshwater continues to increase, through increasing urbanization and the continuing development of societies, so the issue of how such shared water resources can best be governed is becoming vitally important. Negotiating International Water Rights offers both a timely contribution to a matter of international concern and important insights into resource conflict in countries of vital security interest to the world at large.

Water Security

Water Security PDF

Author: Anders Jägerskog

Publisher: SAGE Publications Limited

Published: 2014-11-11

Total Pages: 1344

ISBN-13: 9781446293928

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During the past two decades, environmental security and more specifically the security of water as a natural resource has come to the forefront of research and discussion. Many regions have experienced an increased water scarcity due to climatic variability and climate change, and the uncertain impacts of climate change to the supply has brought the issue to the centre of political debates. Indeed it has been raised by both the EU and the US national governments as a major issue of concern globally and has also been highlighted by the Security Council of the UN. The four volumes of this collection seek to broadly outline the debate as it has developed, both from a policy as well as an academic perspective, with the aim to bring conceptual clarity as well as provide an account of how the water security discourse has emerged and developed. Volume One: Water Security - Origin and foundations Volume Two: Water Security - International conflict and cooperation Volume Three. Water Security and Development - An intimate relation Volume Four: The Age of Water Security - Current dilemmas and future challenges

Water Conflicts

Water Conflicts PDF

Author: Mark Zeitoun

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-04-02

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 0190098112

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Water Conflicts applies cutting-edge thinking to identify pathways that can transform complex water conflicts. It challenges existing power-blind and politics-lite analysis that is very deeply-held and recurring in debates that suggest causal links between scarcity and violence-or peace. This book presents a much needed revision of transboundary water analysis, leading to a rethink on the way water is used and contested, with a focus on harm experienced both by the most vulnerable water users and the environment. Recognizing that conflicts are never static, Mark Zeitoun, Naho Mirumachi, and Jeroen Warner's "transformative analysis" provides multi-disciplinary tools and perspectives to understand and address the complexities involved. The approach is stress-tested through dozens of examples around the globe, and it incorporates collective evidence and knowledge of the London Water Research Group. The insights on water diplomacy will be most welcome by analysts, activists, diplomats, and all others tackling water conflicts. Seeking to motivate improvement of transboundary water arrangements towards further equity and sustainability as a practical agenda, the book is a fresh antidote to the detached role that researchers and policymakers often play.

Resource Wars

Resource Wars PDF

Author: Michael Klare

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780805055764

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Klare argues that wars in the near future will be fought over the control of dwindling natural resources like oil and water.