Can Water Help Quench the Flames of Hostility? How Shared Waters Can Promote Dialogue During Conflict
Publisher: SAIS Review of International Affairs
Author(s): Alexandra Turgul, Zoe H. Rosenblum, Melissa McCracken, Susanne Schmeier, and Aaron T. Wolf
Date: 2023
Topics: Cooperation, Renewable Resources
Grounded in the water diplomacy and environmental peacebuilding literatures, our article poses the question: Are there settings of existing or potential international conflict where shared water resources may induce dialogue, regardless of whether there is a relationship between water and the conflict? Drawing on high-priority conflicts identified by the US Council on Foreign Relations, we create a typology of pathways through which internationally shared waters can serve as an entry point for dialogue in diverse conflict settings. We conclude by discussing the types of dialogue that might be implemented and by offering tools for hydro-diplomacy that have been productive elsewhere.