BLOG
Breaking Afghanistan’s Hydro-Political Trap
June 15th, 2026
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at how – since its neighbors rely on unregulated river flows – any unilateral Afghan attempt to develop water infrastructure is perceived as a threat, risking regional destabilization: Situated at the headwaters of major river systems feeding Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, Afghanistan is the mountainous hydro-hub of Central […]
Read more »Drought May Test Central Asia’s New Cooperative Approach
March 4th, 2026
Via The Diplomat, a look at whether the new ties that bind Central Asian countries strong enough to weather drought? Every year, rain and snow that falls in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan provides water for millions within their borders. Winter snow in the mountains melts in spring to fill hydropower reservoirs. Summer rain waters crops. But […]
Read more »Turkmenistan’s Drought Dries Reservoirs
November 26th, 2025
Two reservoirs in western Turkmenistan have fully dried up, according to satellite analysis published by Meteozhurnal, a specialist meteorological outlet. Mammetköl and Delili, small reservoirs in Balkan province fed by the low-water Atrak river, shrank steadily over the past year and had no remaining water by early summer. Meteozhurnal based its findings on time-series imagery […]
Read more »Afghanistan’s Qosh Tepa Canal and the Paradox of Central Asian Water Politics
September 11th, 2025
Via The Diplomat, a report on Afghanistan’s Qosh Tepa Canal which – for Afghanistan – is a symbol of sovereignty and hope. For its neighbors, it is a looming ecological and economic crisis. As climate change accelerates and water resources in Central Asia continue to shrink, the construction of the massive Qosh Tepa Canal in […]
Read more »Water Diplomacy: Central Asia’s Uneasy Spring
April 1st, 2025
Via Havli, a report on Uzbekistan’s water talks with the Taliban: In this week’s episode of the CAPS Unlock podcast, we examine two separate but revealing stories that show how Central Asia is being shaped by forces well beyond its borders, be they military drones (launched by either Russia or Ukraine) or canals being built […]
Read more »Climate Change—and Complacency—Is Drying Up the Caspian Sea
January 11th, 2025
Via World Politics Review, a look at how climate change – and complacency – is drying up the Caspian Sea: The Caspian Sea is a geographical marvel and a critical resource for the five countries—Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan—that border it. But the future of the world’s largest enclosed inland body of water is […]
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