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A Dying Aral Sea Gives Rise To Increased Tensions In The Region
September 29th, 2009
Via Window on Eurasia, a report that demise of the Aral Sea, the loss of which is already having an adverse effect on two-thirds of the 50 million people in Central Asia, is rapidly increasing tensions in the capitals of the five countries of the region and could spark new and larger military conflicts among […]
Read more »Central Asia: Upstream & Downstream Conflict Between Energy & Water
August 18th, 2009
Via Columbia University’s Earth Institute, a detailed examination of the challenges facing the Central Asian region over water resource management. As the article notes: “…Water resources management in the Central Asia region faces formidable challenges. The hydrological regimes of the two major rivers in the region, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, are complex […]
Read more »The Syr Darya: An Example of Failure
May 8th, 2009
Via The Foreign Policy Association, unfortunate news regarding the fate of the Syr Darya river in Central Asia, a true example of the failure of regional cooperation and water politics. As the article notes: “…On March 26, at a meeting in Almaty of state-sponsored environmentalists and ecologists, the Syr Darya was declared too polluted to […]
Read more »Central Asian Leaders Clash Over Water At Aral Sea Summit
April 30th, 2009
Via Eurasia.net disappointing (but not unexpected) news that a summit on the future of the shrinking Aral Sea ended without making any tangible progress on resuscitating the endangered sea. In fact, if anything, the meeting succeeded only in stoking acrimony among participants on the water-use issue. As the article notes: “…The presidents of the five […]
Read more »Hydroplomacy: A Central Asian Water Summit
April 27th, 2009
Via Yahoo, news of an upcoming meeting among the five leaders of Central Asian nations to try to end a bitter row over water use in one of the world’s driest regions. As the article notes: “…The dispute over cross-border water sharing in the vast region north of Afghanistan is a worry for its leaders […]
Read more »Central Asia: Creation of A Downstream Water-Energy Bloc
April 12th, 2009
Via Windows on Eurasia, an interesting report on the geopolitics behind the death of the Aral Sea and the emergence of “the youngest desert in the world, the Aralkum†which, as the article notes, are causing the countries around it to be increasingly drawn into serious conflicts over ever scarcer water resources. “…as a result […]
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