Abstract
In the 1990s, many agreements were drawn up in the South to share the international river basins. Noteworthy ones are Zambezi, Mekong, Jordan, Ganges and Nile rivers. These agreements are going through severe stress due to increasing water demand and climate change-induced uncertainties. In these cases, the riparian countries agreed for water sharing arrangements when they had hope for the further exploitation of the river resource. Possibility to acquire more water had led the political leaders to opt for the agreement as it provided political gain. However, these agreements are not worthy enough to initiate overall development in the basin as they lack the ability and motivation to make best possible use of the scarce water resources to meet future water challenges.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allan T and Nicol A (1998) Water resources, prevention of violent conflict and the coherence of EU policies in the Horn of Africa. Discussion paper, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London
Brochman M and Gleditsch NP (2006) Conflict, cooperation, and good governance in international river basins. Paper presented at a meeting in CSCW working group 3, Environmental factors in civil war, PRIO, Oslo, 21 Sept 2006
Elmusa SS (1996) Negotiating water: Israel and the Palestinians. Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington, DC
Falkenmark M (1993) Regional water scarcity–a widely neglected challenge. People Planet 2(2):10–11
Klein M (1998) Water balance of the upper Jordan river basin. Water Int 23:244–48
Lowi M (1995) Rivers of conflict, rivers of peace. J Int Aff 49:123–44
McKinney M and Roeun V (2002) China agrees to share information on Mekong water levels. The Cambodia Daily, 2 Apr 2002
Mirza MMQ (1997) Hydrological changes in the Ganges system in Bangladesh in the post-Farakka period. Hydrol Sci J 42(5):613–631
Öjendal J (2000) Sharing the good: models of managing water resources in the lower Mekong river basin. Department of Peace and Development Research, Gothenburg
Postel S (1999) Pillar of sand: can the irrigation miracle last? W.W. Norton, New York
Starr JR (1991) Water wars. Foreign Policy 82(Spring):17–36
Swain A (2004) Managing water conflict: Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Routledge, London
Swain A (2008) Mission not yet accomplished: managing water resources in the Nile river basin. J Int Aff 61(2):201–214
Swain A (2010) Environment and conflict in South Asia: water-sharing between Bangladesh and India. South Asian J 28:27–34, April-June
Turton AR (1998) Water and state Sovereignty: the hydro-political challenge for states in Arid Regions. Paper presented at “Water Africa 99”, Cairo, 30 May–1 June 1998
Wallensteen P, Swain A (1997) Comprehensive assessment of the freshwater resources of the world, international fresh water resources: conflict or cooperation? Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm
Wolf AT (1995) Hydropolitics along the Jordan river. Scarce water and its impacts on the Arab-Israeli conflict. UNU Press, Tokyo
Wolf AT, Kramer A, Carius A, Dabelko GD (2005) State of the world 2005 global security brief no 5: water can be a pathway to peace, not war. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC
Yoffe S, Wolf A (1999) Water, conflict and cooperation: geographical perspectives. Camb Rev Int Aff 12(2):197–213
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Swain, A. (2011). Politics or Development: Sharing of International Rivers in the South. In: Öjendal, J., Hansson, S., Hellberg, S. (eds) Politics and Development in a Transboundary Watershed. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0476-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0476-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0475-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0476-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)