Water diplomacy in post-Soviet geographies: analyzing multiple scales of cooperative potential
Date
2022
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This dissertation investigated why cooperation over shared water resources occurs among countries in conflict with each other in some cases but not in others. It examined the Arpacay/Akhuryan Dam (Armenia and Turkey), the Black Sea (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine), and the North Crimean Canal (Russia and Ukraine). In these cases, there are severe international conflicts between the countries (e.g. closed borders, annexations, and armed conflicts). Yet, in the Arpacay/Akhuryan and the Black Sea cases, there is extensive water cooperation, while in the North Crimean case, severe water conflicts exist. ☐ This study discovered that, in cases where there are severe interparty conflicts, management scale has an influence on cooperation outcome, increased localization of management, coincident with improved relations maximizes cooperation potential, and polycentric governance can sustain shared water cooperation but present limitations for environmental peace-building at national-level. In addition, timing (window of opportunity), intensity of conflict, political agenda of riparians, and economy are key for those cases. ☐ We suggest to evaluate global cases using the international relations, management scale, and cooperation likeliness framework that this study created while keeping the factors above and case-specific factors under consideration. ☐ Keywords: hydropolitics; transboundary water management; Armenia; Turkey; Russia; Ukraine; USSR; international conflicts; polycentric management; water cooperation
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Keywords
Hydropolitics, International conflicts, Polycentric management, Soviet union, Transboundary water management, Water cooperation