Water: Asia's New Battleground'... Chellaney shows how today's economic growth could lead to tomorrow's "water wars". This is a vital book for anybody interested in diplomacy and conflict in the twenty-first century' - Stanley A. Weiss, founding chairman, Business Executives for National Security, Washington DC The battles of yesterday were fought over land; those of today are over energy. But the battles of tomorrow may be over water. Nowhere is that danger greater than in water-distressed Asia. Water stress is set to become Asia's defining crisis of the twenty-first century, creating obstacles to continued rapid economic growth, stoking interstate tensions over shared resources, exacerbating long-time territorial disputes, and imposing further hardships on the poor. Asia is home to many of the world's great rivers and lakes, but its huge population and exploding economic and agricultural demand for water make it the most water-scarce continent on a per capita basis. Many of Asia's water sources cross national boundaries, and as less and less water is available, international tensions will rise. The potential for conflict is further underscored by China's unrivalled global status as the source of transboundary river flows to the largest number of countries, as it declines to enter into water-sharing or cooperative treaties with these states, even as it taps the resources of international rivers. Water: Asia's New Battleground is a pioneering study of Asia's murky water politics and the relationships between freshwater, peace, and security. Brahma Chellaney paints a larger picture of water across Asia, highlights the security implications of resource-linked territorial disputes, and proposes real strategies to avoid conflict and more equitably share Asia's water resources. |
Contents
Murky Hydropolitics | |
The Worlds Most Unique Water | |
A Key Test Case | |
Managing Intrastate Water Conflicts | |
Mitigating Intercountry Water Disputes or Discord | |
Forestalling Bloodletting over Water | |
Appendixes | |
Index | |
About the Book | |
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Common terms and phrases
agricultural Aquastat Online aquifers areas Arunachal Pradesh Asia Asia’s Asian Bangladesh Beijing Bhutan Brahmaputra Brahmaputra River building capita Central challenges China China’s water Chinese climate change cooperation countries country’s dam-building Development downstream ecological economic ecosystems energy Environment environmental exports flooding freshwater glaciers global groundwater Himalayan hydrological hydropower hydropower projects impact India Indus Waters Indus Waters Treaty infrastructure intercountry international rivers irrigation issue Kashmir kilometers Korea Lake land major megaprojects Mekong River meters million Nepal nuclear Pakistan People’s Republic percent plans political pollution population production Province region renewable water resources rice riparian River basin river flows river waters Salween South South Korea strategic territorial Three Gorges Dam Tibet Tibetan Plateau transboundary United Nations upstream water availability water crisis water disputes water diversion water scarcity water shortages water stress Water Transfer Project water-sharing Waters Treaty world’s largest Xinjiang Yangtze Yellow River