International water disputes and cooperative responses to water stress

Abstract

International fresh water resources now occupy a prominent position in international affairs and are recognized as a legitimate concern of conflict studies. Numerous scholars, policy-makers, and activists alike have suggested broadening use of the security concept beyond its traditional geo-political and military forms to also consider environmental threats that seriously jeopardize human well-being. This article analyzes conceptual and theoretical arguments that have been made for the management of international environmental issues - such as, for instance, water disputes over international fresh water resources (rivers). Although the above assumptions about water conflict seem to be illuminating, there has been need of a more detailed explanation and understanding of cooperation over international rivers. However, the very conceptions of conflict and cooperation are ambiguous, and, not very convincingly handled in the literature. In contrast to conflict, cooperation - the main subject in this inquiry - receives less analytic attention, and, consequently, it is less understood as a concept. This study suggests a three-fold typology of cooperation: voluntary, induced, and imposed cooperation.

Keywords

• international water disputes
• types of conflict
• types of cooperation