Here's Why Nations Go to War Over Water


Mar 6, 2017 | George Friedman and Allison Fedirka
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Access to and control over water is a strategic imperative for all countries. As such, it has been a source of conflict throughout history.

Water access can impact a country’s geopolitics in many ways. The first (and one of the most obvious) is sea access. Access to the world’s oceans enables a country to use major maritime shipping routes. It also opens an additional route by which a country could project force by having a navy.