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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 »Kyrgyz Block Water to Kazakhstan, Demanding the Return of “Their†Land
July 17th, 2013
Via Global Voices Online, an interesting commentary on water dispute in Central Asia: During the enforced brotherhood of communism, land and water were not a source of friction for the peoples of Soviet Central Asia. Over the course of two decades of sovereignty, however, arguments over the delimitation of national borders and access to trans-boundary […]
Read more »Water Issues In Kazakhstan
July 17th, 2013
Via the Silk Road Intelligencer, an interesting article on water in Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan is not the first country that comes to mind when discussing water politics. In Central Asia, this topic is more often associated with Uzbekistan, which uses more water annually than it has, and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which are both located upstream from […]
Read more »Pakistan: Tackling Its Water Shortages
July 9th, 2013
Via The International News, an article on Pakistan’s water challenges: Pakistan has been facing several major crises that include terrorism, the Balochistan and Karachi issues, electricity and gas shortages besides economic stagnation. It is unfortunate that some major crises have diverted the attention of the government and people away from other major issues. The water […]
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