Conflict on Transboundary Watercourses

In South America, water is at its heart, underpinning hydropower generation, agricultural production and industry. Transboundary water bodies cover almost half of South America territory. All countries in the region share transboundary waters, such as aquifers, basins and rivers that may create enough reason for political conflict among those countries. Therefore, there is a vital need to develop regional strategies to manage those shared water resources, especially with the continuous increase in population growth, climate change and the increase in demand for water. This chapter takes the La Plata basin and the Guarani Aquifer in South America as a representative example to discuss the management of transboundary water bodies situation and demonstrates how the countries are collaborating to face the challenge to achieve sustainable development on both sides of their borders.

The inherent discord in Indus Waters Treaty is manifest in hydroelectric power projects in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), where India and Pakistan are fighting a legal battle for control over water resources of the Indus basin. J&K’s attempts to secure rights over waters of three rivers that flow through its territory has added a new legal dimension to the battle, bringing into question the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty and the principles on which the treaty operates.
India and Pakistan, two south Asian neighbours, have thousands of years of common history and a bitter recent past. The bitterness began in 1947, when British colonialism ended and the Indian subcontinent was partitioned into two nation states – India and Pakistan. Decades since then have witnessed three wars between them and a further partition of Pakistan for the creation of Bangladesh.
A treaty on sharing of transboundary rivers – Indus Waters Treaty – signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan, had largely succeeded in keeping water out of this mutual rivalry. It provides a legal framework for use of waters in six rivers of the Indus basin –Indus, Chenab, Jhelum, Sutlej, Ravi and Beas. The treaty describes in great detail the rights of each party for consumptive and non- consumptive use of water on each river and also provides a mechanism for conflict resolution between the parties. As population in both countries continues to grow exponentially, per capita water availability plummets as a result. For growth in economy, the two countries need energy that comes through hydroelectricity generated from river waters – therefore the race to control maximum water. J&K is turning out to be the theatre for this renewed water rivalry.

The present paper aims to construct a thorough image on state liability concerning the pollution of transboundary waters, due to the various forms of liability and positions emerged under international law regarding international environmental law in general. Moreover, international waters have a particular regime and approach, distinguishing two types: the seas and the international watercourses.
Mainly, international environmental law is comprised of soft law. Nevertheless, rules of customary international law have been crystalized regarding international waters and the paper will shed light on what these are and on what is the importance of those binding and mandatory international obligations for state liability. In addition, soft law will be discussed as to whether it amounts to a development of international environmental law in this sector or whether it is a form of stagnating this process.
Case studies will be provided throughout this paper in order to stress the environmental risks, the impact and the damage which might occur in case of poorly managed activity and projects.
Before proceeding to enter into the legal issues of state liability under international law regarding the pollution of international waters, one must look at the history of environmental law in order to understand the emergence of environmental law and the importance it poses nowadays in the international context, for its absence may lead to consequences which will be supported not only by the present society, but also by future generations.

Aside from the issues peace and stability, one of Afghanistan's most vital needs is safe and reliable supplies of water. But Afghanistan faces certain economic, political, institutional problems to develop water resources potential. These problems will increase as the years go by.

Unpredictable and unsustainable access to water is a rapidly growing problem and one of the world’s greatest risks. We must learn to manage water more wisely, fairly and sustainably to avoid global crisis.
There are 310 transboundary river basins world-wide, home to 40 % of the global population. Establishing effective cooperation on the worlds’ shared basins is vital for securing a peaceful, sus-trainable and equitable future.
Transboundary waters are a pivotal but underappreciated issue in global politics. Water management in many transboundary basins is highly politicized and has a considerable impact on conflict prevention, regional stability, environmental peace-making and international governance. Therefore, transboundary water governance is a domain that should elicit great interest in the foreign policy community.
As consequence, the use and allocation of water in transboundary basins is both a source of tension and an opportunity to promote cooperative practice-es and build collaborative institutions.
The extent to which these conflict risks can be managed and the significant cooperative opportune-ties that can be realized will depend on the level of political engagement demonstrated by both the be-sin countries and the international community.
We need to focus on create mutually beneficial and integrated regional development projects
It is time to offer advice to the wider water community on how Water Diplomacy can be used as a trust building and conflict mitigation tool in sup-port of broader regional cooperation and develop-mint.
One of the main points to focus is discussing how shared water resources could be an entry point for dialogue among riparian states.

We need to put innovative Hydro-Diplomacy into action. It requires paradigm shift from classical hydro diplomacy and try to focus on how to create;
• Shared Vision
• Shared Goal
• Unity of Effort among riparian states.
We need to focus on create mutually beneficial and integrated regional development projects.
We can see innovative alternatives in sight if we are really willing to find them.

Water is an essential component of human right, yet legal framework of its usage, except for navigation is disproportionally underdeveloped. This allows countries to abuse flaws in this framework, which in turn has a negative impact on people. Approaches taken by actors involved in the process of sharing fresh water might determine the future of our planet. The human kind's coexistence (peaceful or non-peaceful) is dependent on that.

Abstract: Hydropower development clearly has a significant role to play in the closer integration of different parts of the Himalayas and in facilitating downstream benefits throughout South Asia. However, the neo-liberal approach to infrastructureled growth frequently overlooks the significant social, economic and political issues associated with this model of development in the region. Furthermore, the ongoing securitisation of water constrains the terms of debate under the guise of a unified national interest and enables large-scale dams to be constructed without due process.To desecuritise water in the Himalayas is to open up this dialogue and in so doing create the conditions for just and sustainable development.

Im Disput über die Nutzung und Verteilung des Nilwassers hat sich das Kräfteverhältnis zwischen den großen Rivalen Ägypten und Äthiopien zugunsten Äthiopiens verschoben. Veränderte hydrologische, wirtschaftliche und geopolitische Bedingungen erlauben es Äthiopien, seine Ziele bei der Nutzung der Wasserressourcen stärker als bisher durchzusetzen. Äthiopiens neue Stärke ist gleichbedeutend mit dem Ende der ägyptischen Vormachtstellung in der Nilwasserfrage. Damit verschärft sich der Konflikt um das Nilwasser in der ohnehin krisengeschüttelten Region südlich des Mittelmeers. Die internationalen Akteure sind daher aufgerufen, neue Ansätze der Konfliktbearbeitung auch jenseits der Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) zu verfolgen.

In submitting disputes over environmental harms to an international court or tribunal, the parties to the conflict seek a workable remedy for the issue(s) that triggered the action. Environmental disputes are a relatively recent class of cases that have been litigated in international courts. Indeed, it has only been over the past two decades that these disputes have found their way onto the dockets of international courts. On the other hand, the adjudication of environmental and natural resources cases, by arbitral tribunals, has long-standing origins. Four of the earliest recorded cases are the arbitrations of the Bering Fur Seals Case (US/UK) (1893), the Chamizal Arbitration (US/Mexico) (1911), The Trail Smelter Case (US/Canada) Arbitration (1941) and the Lac Lanoux Case (Spain/France) (1957) dispute. Each of the foregoing arbitrations yielded a remedy. In contrast, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has to date, at best, provided facile or questionable remedies in the environmental disputes that it has adjudicated. This chapter is devoted to the adjudication of environmental issues that have come before both the ICJ and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) with a specific focus on international law remedies issued by these two bodies. Initially, it analyses disputes adjudicated by the ICJ, while reviewing their outcome and the remedies the Court issued. It then evaluates three disputes adjudicated by the ITLOS. Finally, it compares the two systems, and suggests that ad hoc arbitration may be the better course for states litigating environmental disputes.

The ―Arab Spring‖—a wave of pro-democracy demonstrations that began in Tunisia in late 2010 and swept across Libya and Egypt—finally reached Syria in early March 2011. The unrest resulted from a combination of socio-economic and political problems that had been building for years and that affect especially Syria‘s large rural population. One of the things that preceded the failure of the nation-state of Syria and the rise of ISIS have been considered the effect of climate change and the mega-drought that affected that region. However, four years after the conflict began, it has degenerated into a civil war with more than 200,000 deaths and about 4 million registered refugees. And it has put Syria at the center of nasty geopolitical struggles. In most evaluations of the Syrian civil war an future, the most neglected analysis is: How water resources will affect the ongoing civil war and how changing situation will affect hydropolitics relations between countries after the war. A far m...

UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Mun pointed out extremely important and extraordinary points in his remark at Opening of the 7th World Water Forum held in Daegu, Gyeongbuk, The Republic of Korea in 12 April 2015. He said that; “Instead of seeing scarce water as a reason for competition or conflict, we have to treat it as a challenge to collaborate, a challenge to engage in innovative hydrodiplomacy. In today‟s world, we must be more aware of the risks of water conflict.” It is important to note the emphasis on “collaboration and innovative hydro-diplomacy” in his remarks. While speaking on the occasion of World Water Day 2013, the Secretary General had also said, “Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains ... And it is a potent fuel for wars and conflict.” Secretary General Ban Ki-moon‟s warnings were reflected in the offcial definition of water security provided by the United Nations UniversityIWEH, which says. “The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to a...

While the literature about the likelihood of an acute conflict over freshwater resources continues to grow, little work has been done to identify key drivers of such conflict and to establish indicators of water conflict potential. Such indicators need to incorporate a wide range of physical, social, economic and environmental variables to develop a comprehensive model covering basin specific situation. This method can be applicable in those cases of internationally shared rivers where progress towards successful resolution of a dispute was slow or unachievable. Considering all factors having influence on the river basin regime is becoming crucial to elaborate meaningful and workable framework to provide resolution to the growing water conflict. The Syr Darya and Amu Darya Basins in Central Asia have been long known as "hot spots" where the potential for escalating existing tensions over water into a violent conflict was high. This study contributes to the identification and development of potential indicators of water conflict in Central Asia, while analysing some of them within the Geographical Information System (GIS). Unlike other studies that involve global level analysis, the thesis focuses on Central Asia's regional and basin specific information. Taking the basin as a unit of research, the proposed study offers a model of relationship between water resources and social, political, economic and environmental patterns in the Amu Darya Basin. A parallel analysis of water conflict related variables aims at finding combinations of indicators that provide an indication of potential water conflict.

En el año 1998 España y Portugal adoptaron el Convenio de Albufeira para gestionar los recursos hídricos compartidos entre ambos Estados. Por primera vez, la protección medioambiental y la gestión sostenible de los recursos hídricos y los ecosistemas dependientes pasó a ser el objetivo fundamental de las relaciones convencionales. Estas relaciones se han desarrollado a lo largo de más de cien años, aunque con unos objetivos muy diferentes. Ahora que se ha cumplido el vigésimo aniversario de su adopción es una buena ocasión para analizar el Convenio, sus deficiencias del pasado y los retos del futuro. El Convenio de Albufeira goza de plena vigencia y puede garantizar la protección y sostenibilidad de los recursos hídricos compartidos por otros veinte años. Sin embargo, la revisión que se llevará a cabo de la Directiva Marco del Agua en el presente año y la adopción de la Agenda 2030 ofrecen el contexto adecuado para que España y Portugal vayan más allá en sus relaciones y perfeccionen el contenido del Convenio para hacer frente a la amenaza de la escasez y las sequías, en aumento como consecuencia del cambio climático.

SUMMARY

Turkey has stopped filling the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River to help Iraq overcome water shortages, but it will resume filling the dam on July Turkey stated that once the filling starts again, water will still flow into Iraq in accordance with agreements between the two countries. Turkey had previously delayed the date to start filling the dam from March until June on Iraq's request. The Ilisu Dam is located on Tigris river and it is about 45 km from the Syrian-Turkish border. It will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) with a hydropower capacity of 1,200 MW, producing an expected 3,800 GWh/yr. With a planned height of 135 m, the dam will have a 10.4 BCM reservoir. The controversial Ilisu Dam Project has raised concerns among a wide range of stakeholders including the main Tigris riparians, local residents and international nongovernmental organizationsInternational consortium of export credit agencies were heavily criticized by several environmental and human rights groups to stop financial support to the Ilısu Dam.

As an exercise in riparian power play, China’s recent refusal to share hydrological data with India on the Brahmaputra was as much a lesson in geomorphology as in geopolitics. Played out in the backdrop of the India-China Doklam standoff, it was provocative political signalling at its most direct. This is evident in the fact that while it suspended the information-sharing agreement with India, China continued to share hydrological data on the Brahmaputra with Bangladesh. This was a reminder, if any was needed, of China’s dominant position in the Asian waterscape. Its uneasy ripples shine a much-needed light on what is wrong with the India-China conversation on the Brahmaputra.

Water is an environmental, political, cultural, historical, and economic natural resource that is of vital importance for human life. As many water resources are shared by more than one country and since there is no substitute for water, water has become a security issue. In this paper, we provide an overview of the factors that may potentially increase conflict among riparian countries and affect the success or failure of international agreements in addressing trans-boundary water management issues. Additional insight into these factors can assist in designing resilient water treaties, decrease the likelihood of the collapse of international water agreements, and consequently decrease the potential for conflicts among riparian countries.

Cross-border Water Trade: Legal and Interdisciplinary Perspectives is a critical assessment of one of the growing problems faced by the international community — the global water deficit. Cross-border water trade is a solution that generates ethical and economic but also legal challenges. Economic, humanitarian and environmental approaches each highlight different and sometimes conflicting aspects of the international commercialization of water. Finding an equilibrium for all the dimensions required an interdisciplinary path incorporating certain perspectives of natural law. The significance of such theoretical underpinnings is not merely academic but also quite practical, with concrete consequences for the legal status of water and its fitness for international trade.

Discussions over transboundary freshwater resources management have raged over the years with advocates of interstate cooperation expressing moderate optimism against those who claim conflict to be on the loop in the years to come. Water scarcity has been identified by many as a crucial factor capable of triggering interstate conflicts. However, history has revealed that convincing evidence linking water scarcity to interstate conflicts is missing. Despite numerous tensions concerning the management of transboundary river basins, there are no examples of direct and extended conflict related to scarcity. Nevertheless, future projections seem to be quite alarming. This
paper, based on a thorough literature review, aims to present the two sides of the discussion over water scarcity and transboundary freshwater management and the likelihood of cooperation versus conflict in the future.

To achieve flood protection in the Maritsa River Basin, Greece and Turkey have been forced to take preventative measures. However, these actions have been taken unilaterally making the Maritsa River Basin an example of poor international and transboundary water management. As a transboundary river, water development and management issues in the basin require regional collaboration between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

Territory (terra-tory) is about politically controlling a region of earth. Sociologists and political geographers look at territory as a historical feature of ouar political landscape. They investigate how actual territories are formed, of what they consist, and how they are maintaineda. Philosophical inquiries have a different target. They question the normative features of territory, asking about the moral justification of territorial rights. Who has moral standing to hold a territorial right? What morally justifies political control over resources? If a group has a territorial right, over which exact objects is that right held? The latter question motivates this essay. One might wonder how high into the atmosphere a territorial right should extend, how deep underground, or how far out across the seas. One might also wonder whether territorial rights should include vast uninhabited areas, such as much of the Sahara Desert. A particularly tricky question probes the nature of territ...

Among contentious international law issues, the transboundary watercourse management, which is exhibited with a conflicting states interest, is at the center of international law discussion. In order to vividly grasp the very essence behind such conflicting states interest, it is quite important to understand how-the international water law works, and-its institutional platform arrangements are established. Hence, a comprehensive review concerning the guiding legal regime and institutional arrangement of transboundary watercourse is very crucial. In the above vein, at the backdrop of the major theoretical doctrine of transboundary watercourse, this paper reviewed and addressed, customary international watercourse laws and the 1997 UN transboundary watercourses convention coupled with its incorporated principles. Alongside the aforementioned analysis, the paper reviewed major contentious issues relating to the aforesaid customary laws and principles. Moreover, the paper also reviewed and addressed the modelled categorization of institutional arrangement of transboundary watercourse.

SUMMARY When one loook at last situation of the Syrian map, it can be seen that the Islamic State is squeezed out of its strongholds in Mosul and Raqqa and witnesses a steady decline in the influx of foreign fighters. As of 2017 July IS has lost 60% of territory, 80% of revenue This brings any other important question: what is next for ISIS? Will it continue to retain control of several urban centers in the region—or will it disband and devote its complete attention to external operations and attacking Europe and the West? Balanche clearly pointied out very curucial issue in his article (2) while it has been out of mind during this chaotic civil war situation.After six year civil war,regardless of who controls the Euphrates Valley agricultural zone next, they will need to address the legacy of failed regime irrigation policies that are once again creating tension among local tribes

Mexico shares two borders with Guatemala and Belize where surface waters are abundant, a situation that enables dynamic relations between waters and boundaries. The border rigidity has traditionally contrasted with profound local transboundary interactions between water linked to socio-cultural dynamics and the multiple circumstances of liquidity. Resulting from more than a decade of research in the area, this paper proposes to analyze different water borders conceived as an integrative duality –rigidity versus fluidity-from a perspective which looks beyond dominant methodological nationalism. Instead of opposing water fluidity and the rigidity of political boundaries, through examples of " transboundary water crossings " and transboundary river basins, the article proposes " water transbordering " as a perspective that dynamically intertwines waters and borders. Finally, it highlights the importance for research to go beyond nationalist, homogeneous and hegemonic visions about rigid borders, which ultimately feeds conflicts and moves towards a perspective that includes local dynamics of waters and boundaries in support a transboundary analysis that moves towards transboundary environmental peace. Resumen En las fronteras que México comparte con Guatemala y Belice, los recursos hídricos superficiales abundan, situación que propicia relaciones múltiples entre aguas y fronteras. Tradicionalmente, la rigidez de la frontera política contrasta con la fluidez de las aguas y las profundas interac-ciones locales transfronterizas asociadas a distintos factores socio-culturales pero relacionadas también con el líquido. Como resultado de más de una década de investigaciones en la región, este artículo propone analizar las distintas fronteras de agua concebidas como una dualidad integradora –rigidez versus fluidez-a partir de una perspectiva que busque ir más allá del nacio-nalismo metodológico predominante. Más que oponer la fluidez de las aguas con la rigidez de las fronteras políticas, a través de los ejemplos de los llamados " pasos transfronterizos de agua " y de las cuencas transfronterizas el texto llama a concebir una transfronteridad hídrica en la cual el entrelazamiento de las aguas y de las fronteras es dinámico. Finalmente, subraya la importancia de superar primero desde la investigación las visiones nacionalistas, homogéneas y hegemónicas

Aside from the issues peace and stability, one of Afghanistan’s most vital needs is safe and reliable supplies of water. But Afghanistan faces certain economic, political, institutional problems to develop water resources potential. These problems will increase as the years go by. Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries, with an economy largely based on subsistence agriculture. Afghan farmers depend on reliable, year-round sources of surface water and groundwater. Seasonal flows of streams and rivers fed by melting snowpack high in Afghanistan’s mountains recharge alluvial aquifers located in populated valleys and provide city dwellers with drinking water. The current population of Afghanistan is about 31 million and it is projected to increase by nearly 80 percent by the year 2050 to approximately 56 million. This will raise demand on the country’s already economic stressed water resources. Almost all of the river basins are transboundary in the country. The Country due...

Das Säbelrasseln Ägyptens in der Nilwasserfrage stößt an seine Grenzen, meint Tobias von Lossow. Da die Notwendigkeit zu kooperieren stetig zunimmt, müssen Ägypten und Äthiopien ihre politischen Absichtserklärungen endlich glaubhaft mit Leben füllen.

Aside from the issues peace and stability, one of Afghanistan’s most vital needs is safe and reliable supplies of water. But Afghanistan faces certain economic, political, institutional problems to develop water resources potential. These problems will increase as the years go by. Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries, with an economy largely based on subsistence agriculture. Afghan farmers depend on reliable, year-round sources of surface water and groundwater. Seasonal flows of streams and rivers fed by melting snowpack high in Afghanistan’s mountains recharge alluvial aquifers located in populated valleys and provide city dwellers with drinking water. The current population of Afghanistan is about 31 million and it is projected to increase by nearly 80 percent by the year 2050 to approximately 56 million. This will raise demand on the country’s already economic stressed water resources. Almost all of the river basins are transboundary in the country. The Country due...

By: Melissa McCracken and Chloé Meyer

Water is central to sustainable development; making transboundary cooperation among riparians a core aspect of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 6 on water and sanitation includes an indicator, SDG Indicator 6.5.2, to assess cooperation over transboundary waters by measuring the “Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation.” The definitions developed by the methodology for calculating the Indicator have the potential to significantly impact the resulting structure and type of cooperation that are assessed and that will develop. Indeed, the composition of this indicator will both directly and indirectly influence water diplomacy, international policy, and water law. In this research, we analyze the methodology for assessing SDG Indicator 6.5.2, examine how operational cooperative arrangements are defined, and identify the strengths and limitations of the method for measuring transboundary water cooperation. This is done by simulating the application of the methodology and calculating the Indicator in three national case studies (Bangladesh, Honduras, and Uganda) and in a global overview. The unequal distribution regionally of operational cooperation is evident, as well as the gap in coverage between transboundary surface waters and aquifers. However, the normative and binary nature of the Indicator obscures the political complexity of establishing cooperative processes and has the potential to present a false depiction of the extent of cooperation that is occurring over shared waters. In this article, we also discuss bias that can be introduced with using surface area as a metric to assess cooperation that results in weighting larger basins and aquifers over smaller basins in the calculation of the Indicator. This paper presents a basis for further analysis of SDG Indicator 6.5.2 and the possible adaptations of the Indicator design to better assess transboundary water cooperation.

ABSTRACT
UN Secretary-General  Ban ki-Mun pointed out  extremely important and extraordinary  points  in his remark  at Opening of the 7th World Water Forum  held in Daegu, Gyeongbuk, The Republic of Korea in 12 April 2015. He said that; “Instead of seeing scarce water as a reason for competition or conflict, we have to treat it as a challenge to collaborate, a challenge to engage in innovative hydro- diplomacy.  In today‟s world, we must be more aware of the risks of water conflict.” It is important to note the emphasis on “collaboration  and innovative hydro-diplomacy” in his remarks. While speaking on the occasion of World Water Day 2013, the Secretary General had also  said, “Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains … And it is a potent fuel for wars and conflict.”

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon‟s warnings were reflected in the offcial definition of water security provided by the United Nations University- IWEH, which says. “The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.” It is important to note the emphasis on “in a climate of peace and political stability” in this definition. The concerns of the United Nations are justified as the world faces an era of depleting water resources.

The World Water Development Report of UNESCO, released in March 2015 warns us of serious depletion of water supplies by 2050, while at the same time, significant increase in demand due to population growth, economic development and urbanisation, among other factors. Different effects of climate change are today contributing to even more water scarcity and greater security risks. It shows us that we need an effective and mutually beneficial solution of water resources-related problems.

At the global scale, the effective and mutually beneficial solution of water  resources-related problems underlie peace, security and stability. But this can become a reality only if we change our conceptual approaches to domestic and  transboundary water management. 

Keywords: Transboundary Water; New Water Paradigm; Water Conceptional Change; New Hydro Diplomacy; Traditional Water Cooperation; New Hydropolitcs; Shared vision; Shared goal

A hydro-hegemon is a state with shared river basins that asserts its power over the other riparian states. As a consequence of being a hydro-hegemon, the State then asserts and retains its positions through bilateralism rather than regionalism. This bilateralism strengthens not just its own needs but also the negotiating power. While there are arguments that hydro-hegemony might be a factor leading to stability, it is seen in the South Asian context that this hydro-hegemony disadvantages the neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. In the context of South Asia, the hydro-hegemon is India. The paper will delve further into international law recourse available to neighbours and argue for a more regional approach to be adopted, which will not just benefit the neighbours but also India, as the hydro-hegemon, itself.

Since the end of the Cold War, classical “regional cooperation” has been the most mentioned approach to resolve transboundary water conflicts between riparian states, yet this approach faces new challenges, such as the devastating impacts of prolonged drought as well as ongoing instability and conflicts, thus requiring a new paradigm to water cooperation.Approximately 40% of the global population live in transboundary water basins and growing threats such as climate change emphasise the urgent need for coordinated management of transboundary water bodies. The reality of global change calls for innovative “hydro-diplomacy” aimed at strengthening international collaboration for climate change adaptation under the framework of regional security and win-win politics.
The classical nature of international relations needs to change from a zero-sum game based on resource appropriation to a platform of mutually beneficial and supportive interrelations. This change needs more than intention, and requires a new paradigm. It requires us to identify the most effective mechanisms for governments to engage in regional collaboration that would be effective in managing a shared watercourse.
There is a paradox in that although the vital importance of transboundary water management is continuously emphasised, there has been little advancement in the development of applicable and effective frameworks for realistic international water cooperation in the past decades. This article presents a new paradigm for more realistic international water cooperation and collaboration.