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WATER POLITICS

Russian scientists have reportedly asked the Kremlin to fund a feasibility study on diverting water from Russia’s Ob River down to Central Asia.  The $100B plan would see a massive plastic pipeline carry up to 22 cubic km (5.3 cubic miles) ofw ater through Kazakhstan into Uzbekistan annually.  This idea builds upon a similar Soviet-era proposal from the 1970s to replenish the Aral Sea Basin, and would not only help alleviate Central Asia’s water crisis but also offer Russia a new source of leverage over a region looking to break from Moscow’s orbit.