Will
wars be fought over water, as they have been over oil? The fear has been expressed
by high-ranking UN officials and state leaders. The short answer is that no military
force in the world has ever managed to “capture” a river basin and the only full-fledged
water war dates back over 4,500 years (pp. 18-19). “Water by
its very nature is used to extinguish fires, not to ignite them,” says Jordan’s Munther
Haddadin, who negotiated one of the most historic water agreements ever signed (p.
22).
In the Middle East, thirsty nations have no choice but to cooperate. Despite the
bloodshed between Israelis and Palestinians, the two sides regularly meet to assure
water supply in the West Bank, while informal talks continue on a plan to share the
region’s resources (pp.
22-25).
From the Danube (pp.
26-27)
to the Nile (pp.
30-31),
mighty rivers have been used as pawns in the Cold War. Yet today, as countries like
Egypt, Ethiopia or the republics of
Central Asia shake free from this legacy, they are learning to trust one another
by trading in the economic benefits of water, like hydroelectricity or irrigation
supplies. Just by studying an aquifer or a river, states like Namibia and Botswana
(pp.
34-36),
or India and Bangladesh (pp.
32-33),
are shedding their
mutual suspicions. There are no magic formulas in hydrodiplomacy, but slowly, a new
alliance is forming between lawyers, technicians and the people closest to the resource
(pp.
37-38).
Together, they are devising ways of sharing the one natural resource that we cannot
replace, or live without. |
