Maertens, Lucile; Pflieger, Géraldine --- "Studying international water conflict" [2018] ELECD 1249; in Tignino, Mara; Bréthaut, Christian (eds), "Research Handbook on Freshwater Law and International Relations" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 367

Book Title: Research Handbook on Freshwater Law and International Relations

Editor(s): Tignino, Mara; Bréthaut, Christian

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781785360640

Section: Chapter 15

Section Title: Studying international water conflict

Author(s): Maertens, Lucile; Pflieger, Géraldine

Number of pages: 24

Abstract/Description:

This chapter identifies the contrasting theoretical perspectives that aspire to understand and explain economical, environmental, political and social tensions over freshwater. Drawing on International Relations, it provides a fourfold framework to study water conflicts. First, it considers the physical condition of the resource to understand (and predict) the potential tensions over freshwater. Secondly, it focuses on power relations that frame and condition water resources exploitation. Thirdly, it discusses how securitizing speech acts can label freshwater as a source of conflict and then influence the actual water interactions. Fourthly, it considers the evolution of cooperation and conflict over time focusing on actors’ configurations. The chapter then applies these four dimensions to study the India/China Brahmaputra River case. The framework provides an exhaustive and integrated analytical approach necessary to capture the complexity of actual conflict-cooperation situations over freshwater. The chapter concludes on conflict resolution and cooperation facilitating conditions.