BLOG
Nile Water Dispute Stymies Egypt Reset with African Union
September 15th, 2013
Via Al-Monitor, a look at the tension over the Nile River: Egypt is still facing multiple hurdles in managing its diplomatic relations and national security interests with other African nations, particularly those of the Nile basin. This is despite the new Egyptian political administration showing capacity to bolster relations with countries of the African continent. […]
Read more »Pakistan’s Water Woes
September 12th, 2013
Via East Asia Forum, an interesting look at Pakistan’s water issues: While energy shortages, economic stagnation, terrorism and religious intolerance remain in the spotlight, water shortages pose one of the most significant threats to Pakistan. Regrettably, the Pakistani discourse on the subject remains in a state of delusion and is thus misdirected. In the 66 […]
Read more »Syria: Example Of Climate Change’s Impact
September 5th, 2013
Via Legal Planet, an interesting article on an assessment of environmental factors — in particular, a devastating drought — as the proximate cause of the Syrian civil war: [USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Commodity Intelligence Report, May 9, 2008] In considering the complex and painful question of whether to intervene in Syria, policymakers should take a close […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China To Supply Water To Taiwan’s Outlying Islands
September 4th, 2013
Via Focus Taiwan, a report on Chinese/Taiwanese water diplomacy: Taiwan and China have agreed to provide fresh water from the southeastern Chinese city of Jinjiang to the Taiwan-held outlying county of Kinmen, to solve a looming water shortage that is expected to hurt the county’s economic lifeline. The set of islands that make up Kinmen […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Every Year, Beijing Uses 400 Billion More Gallons of Water Than It’s Got
September 1st, 2013
Via Motherboard, a report on China’s water stress: The words “impending water shortage,†bring to mind arid places in the Middle East or Las Vegas. But in Beijing, the per capita annual water availability is well below the United Nations’ absolute water scarcity threshold, at just a tenth of the world average. China’s capital city […]
Read more »Water Politics On The Nile
August 31st, 2013
Via the Orange County Register, commentary on the Nile water rift: Egypt’s sense of nationhood is tied up in control of the Nile. So is energy self sufficiency for Ethiopia. The clash between these two realities can have deadly consequences. America will be tempted to intervene – on the wrong side. The issue is a […]
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