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A Political Storm Hovers Over Calm Nile Water
May 9th, 2010
With 300 million people dependent on the water of the Nile, it is not surprising that a deal on its usage by several countries is difficult to ratify. As Uganda’s Monitor reports the tenuous and contentious state of discussions have not yet subsided: “…It’s been a decade of negotiations-sometimes exemplified by mistrust, intrigue and walkouts. […]
Read more »Water In South Asia – Affecting The Balance of Power
May 4th, 2010
Courtesy of Hydro-Logic, an excellent analysis of how transboundary water issues are one of the top three concerns affecting the balance of power in the region that is dominated by China, India, and Pakistan. As the article notes: “…water and energy are inextricably linked, in a ”nexus” which I shall address in a future post, […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon And Parched Elephant: Moving Towards Trust?
April 26th, 2010
Via India’s Economic Times, Indian media have recently been running a story that China has “admitted” that it is building a dam (Zangmu) project on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra River). As the article notes: “…After several years of denying the existence of any river project on the Brahmaputra, China has finally admitted to India that […]
Read more »Mekong Water Politics: Four + Two = Problems
April 4th, 2010
Courtesy of The San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. Peter Gleick weighs in on the coming crisis over the Mekong due to unconstrained development, natural droughts, and climate change. As he notes, much of the problem can be distilled down to the fact that while six nations share the watershed of the Mekong — China, Myanmar, Cambodia, […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Working To Defuse Mekong Water Tensions
April 3rd, 2010
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), some additional analysis on the recent Mekong River summit to discuss the health of the Mekong River and the possibility that China may have to do more to ease these water tensions in order to prevent other international players from undermining its influence in the region. As the article notes: […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Mekong Enemies In Times Of Low Flow
April 2nd, 2010
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on the increasing tensions between China and the other nations — Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam —that share the Mekong River downstream. As the article notes: “…In southern China, the worst drought in at least 50 years has dried up farmers’ fields and left tens of […]
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