Year: 2013
Collections:
Topics: Irrigation, Transboundary cooperation, Hydropower, Hydropolitics
Authors: Shlomi Dinar
Countries:
Source: Eurasian Geography and Economics
The article focuses on the role of geography and the relative power of states in international hydropolitics. The author analyzes how a country’s position within a river basin — upstream or downstream — affects its ability to participate in water negotiations. It is often assumed that a state with greater military and economic power can dictate the terms of water allocation. However, the author shows that geographical location is also an important source of power. Even a weaker state, if it is located upstream, can influence the water regime and challenge the existing status quo.
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A U.S.-based political scientist specializing in the complexities of international freshwater basins considers the role of two fundamental factors (geography and relative power) in the study of hydro-politics. Conventional analyses claim that in asymmetric contexts the more powerful state (in relative power terms) is able to dictate the status quo. Arguing, however, that such traditional (and even some critical) analyses tend to downplay the importance of geography, the author investigates how a state's physical position along a river may provide an otherwise weaker riparian state the means to challenge the status quo. The paper considers three cases (Tigris-Euphrates, Nile, and Aral Sea basins) with lessons for the study of power in hydro-politics.
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