Transboundary Water Politics in the Developing World

This book examines the political economy that governs the development and management of international transboundary river basins. These shared rivers are the resource for irrigation and hydropower projects and bring to the fore issues of water allocation and integrated water resources management between sovereign states. Noting that issues of water scarcity or water abundance are not only a manifestation of physical and material conditions but also socially constructed, the book explores the challenges of water governance in developing region basins.

Moving away from simplistic analyses of river basins in conflict or cooperation, the author proposes a new analytical framework (the Transboundary Waters Interaction NexuS – TWINS) to understand riparian interactions, based on the coexistence of conflict and cooperation. This highlights the power relations between basin states and the various ways in which different types of power are used to form agendas over water in bilateral or multilateral negotiations. In addition, the book explains how domestic water management paradigms have a significant role in shaping the intensities of conflict and cooperation at the international level.

Attention is paid to the governmental agencies, bureaucracies and private sector through which uses and demands for water are shaped. The book draws on detailed case studies from the Orange-Senqu River basin in Southern Africa, Ganges River basin in South Asia and the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia, but also refers to other examples from the developing world.