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Melting The Geopolitical Ice In South Asia
July 23rd, 2013
Via the July 2013 issue of Asia Policy, an interesting article by Robert Wirsing: No one doubts that the six mainland states of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan—harbor an abundance of varied water-resource problems, with a steadily mounting scarcity of freshwater ranking high among them. Because […]
Read more »Pakistan’s New Big Threat Isn’t Terrorism—It’s Water
July 23rd, 2013
Via The Atlantic, an article on how shortages of water threaten to destabilize south Asia even further: In a report released last week by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Pakistan was pinpointed as “one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, not far from being classified, ‘water-scarce’.” As water demand exceeds supply in the […]
Read more »Asia’s Unstable Water Tower: The Politics, Economics, and Ecology of Himalayan Water Projects
July 21st, 2013
Again via the July 2013 issue of Asia Policy, an interesting article by Kenneth Pommeranz: Asia’s ten largest rivers by volume—including the Yangtze, Mekong, Brahmaputra (which becomes part of the Ganges), and Indus—originate in the Himalayas or on the Tibetan Plateau and collectively serve 47% of the world’s population. Inadequate or unreliable water supplies pose […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Upstream Advantage in the Great Himalayan Watershed
July 21st, 2013
Via the July 2013 issue of Asia Policy, a comprehensive look at water security in the Himalaya region.  As the journal examines, the scramble for control of natural resources to support economic and population growth, combined with the uncertain effects of climate change on the Tibetan Plateau, is raising tensions in Asia over Himalayan water […]
Read more »Malawi: Can Oil And Water Mix?
July 21st, 2013
Courtesy of Eurasia Review, an article on regional water tensions arising from Malawi’s efforts to develop its mineral sector: Civil society’s shorthand for Malawi’s drive to expand its extractive resource sector is T2 – “trouble or treasureâ€. While Malawi has dabbled in mineral exploitation in the past, it only formed a mining and minerals ministry […]
Read more »World Water Wars: In The West Bank, Water Is Just Another Conflict Issue For Israelis And Palestinians
July 21st, 2013
Via The International Business Times, an article on water tensions in the Middle East: Bedouin Falah Hedawa draws water from a rainwater collection cistern in the Rashayida area, in the desert between the West Bank town of Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. The cisterns dotting the desert beyond Bethlehem, many of them restored to full […]
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