International Water Diplomacy Research Papers (original) (raw)

Mekong River, which is the largest river in the South-East Asia, is blessed with rich water resources, forest resources and aquatic resources. However, the Mekong River holds various problems, and bank erosions are most serious problems. Vientiane, capital city of Lao PDR, is in a monsoon region with dry and rainy season. In the dry season, the river level drops with about 10m, and then riverbanks have often failed. It is possible that seepage flow in the back ground influences the failure. In order to clarify the failure mechanism based on soil mechanics, we have conducted
field measurements and centrifuge model experiments. First, moisture sensors are installed in the boreholes on the riverbank in Vientiane city. We have collected data of volume water content in the soil from Jan. 2004. The results of measurements showed that the ground water level fluctuated. Second, the effect of the water level dropping on the ground stability was examined with the centrifuge model experiments. The particle size distribution of the soil of model ground was made to be similar to that of in-situ ground. The Stratum of the model ground is composed of upper siltyclay layer (with the depth of 7m) and lower silty-sand layer. This stratum of the model ground was also made to be similar to that of in-situ ground. The experimental results showed that the water level dropping caused the circular slip failure in upper silty-clay layer. The effect of seepage flow in the back ground on riverbank erosion should be
investigated in the future. Moreover, ground stability should be discussed using appropriate soil properties and saturated-unsaturated seepage analyses.

This paper analyzes Tajikistan’s soft power potential and the possibilities of its conversion into an applied foreign policy resource through public diplomacy mechanisms. The reason behind the selection of this Central Asian nation is the fact that contemporary research discourse on soft power and public diplomacy mainly focuses on the experience and practice of leading global nations. The similar potential of small, less ambitious states often appears out of regular scientific analysis. The capacity of Tajikistan’s soft power is determined based on certain international specialized ranking methodology, Tajikistan’s domestic field-oriented statistics, its goal-setting document objectives and the practical steps of the country. Thus, the paper defines four most promising factors/drivers that seem to constitute Tajikistan’s soft power potential at the modern stage – the country’s authentic culture heritage, its tourist sights and their growing appeal for foreigners, successful global initiatives in the sphere of water cooperation and presence of a big Tajik diaspora abroad. If the first two factors are related to the internal situation in the republic and require demonstration of openness and specific domestic reforms, the other two increase the international recognition of the country and can contribute to the enhancement of Tajik nation’s image. The conducted analysis suggests that, despite having solid soft power capabilities, Tajikistan has not been quite successful in turning it into an applied foreign policy resource. The republic has a controversial international image that seems to be constructed under the influence of many factors some of which are politically charged or based on the established stereotypes about the country. Such an image of Tajikistan is observed not only in countries far from Central Asia but also in those within the CIS space, in particular, in Russia. It is supposed that such an image is formed largely because of Tajikistan’s weak representation on the Internet; negative information about this nation appears to prevail in major search engines. The country’s lack of competitive international information and media tools is also its significant trouble spot in this context. Based on the abovementioned facts, the author concludes that such state of affairs, firstly, demands stepping up public diplomacy efforts, especially in its info-communication dimension, secondly, increases the importance of institutionalization of Tajikistan’s public-diplomacy activity. Those steps would provide the young republic with an additional tool, compatible with modern requirements, for pursuing its foreign policy objectives in the 21st century.

- by B. Bahriev
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- Diasporas, Central Asia, Cultural Diplomacy, Soft Power and International Relations

The ―Arab Spring‖—a wave of pro-democracy demonstrations that began in Tunisia in late 2010 and swept across Libya and Egypt—finally reached Syria in early March 2011. The unrest resulted from a combination of socio-economic and political problems that had been building for years and that affect especially Syria‘s large rural population. One of the things that preceded the failure of the nation-state of Syria and the rise of ISIS have been considered the effect of climate change and the mega-drought that affected that region. However, four years after the conflict began, it has degenerated into a civil war with more than 200,000 deaths and about 4 million registered refugees. And it has put Syria at the center of nasty geopolitical struggles. In most evaluations of the Syrian civil war an future, the most neglected analysis is: How water resources will affect the ongoing civil war and how changing situation will affect hydropolitics relations between countries after the war. A far m...

- by Dursun Yıldız
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- Geography, Middle East Studies, Middle Eastern Politics, Middle East Politics

— After seven years long civil war, Syria move to another phase and federal, confederal models are more pronounced than before. Oil and gas pipelines has always played very significant role in the future of the Middle-East. Experts says that Middle East has been reshaping on the base of new energy equation in the Eastern Mediterrranean and new oil-gas transport route n the Middle East. Safe transportation plan of oil and gas resources to the west in a secure area has New Syria and reshaped the region. The new design of the region will fed the mistrust betweeen neighbours and change the water equation adversely. New cantoons, new states or federational of Syria-Iraq will bring new actors in regional hydropolitics. It will also create lack of trust and lack of confidence between neighbours in the region that may lead to re-securitize the water making water diplomacy uneffective in the Middle East. Syria's new structure is slowly becoming more pronounced in international area. In this article, we aim to analyse these developments regarding water security issues. We also argued that how climate change may impact current water equation and water diplomacy in the New Middle East

- by Dursun Yıldız and +2
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- Water resources, Middle East Politics, International Water Law, Climate Change Impacts

SUMMARY When one loook at last situation of the Syrian map, it can be seen that the Islamic State is squeezed out of its strongholds in Mosul and Raqqa and witnesses a steady decline in the influx of foreign fighters. As of 2017 July IS has lost 60% of territory, 80% of revenue This brings any other important question: what is next for ISIS? Will it continue to retain control of several urban centers in the region—or will it disband and devote its complete attention to external operations and attacking Europe and the West? Balanche clearly pointied out very curucial issue in his article (2) while it has been out of mind during this chaotic civil war situation.After six year civil war,regardless of who controls the Euphrates Valley agricultural zone next, they will need to address the legacy of failed regime irrigation policies that are once again creating tension among local tribes

Transboundary river basins of the World provide vital resources for nearly half of the world’s population. This assessment shows existing and increasing risks in the majority of these basins. But there are still many controversies about ideal policies to balance water allocation or sharing benefit. Therefore, it is still an important issue that transforming potential tensions into partnerships for regional development in potential water conflicted regions. The UN Security Council recently turned its attention to the relationship between water risks and conflict within and between countries4. The pressure on the resource is increasing, many transboundary streams are still left without frameworks for joint management. Climate variability also adds a new, complicating, dimension to these dynamics.
Past experiences showed that there is a significant paradigm shift need in transboundary rivers management from classical hydro diplomacy to an innovative one.
In this article, we aim to clarify that why we need a new strategy with new language to share, new approaches, methods, new mechanisms and innovative tools to apply? To put innovative water diplomacy into action.
Keywords: Water,Diplomacy,Innovation

A podcast about media, science and water diplomacy in the Nile basin. Join us in exploring the role that media and scientific communication play in shaping transboundary conflicts and cooperation. Every month we will talk to journalists and researchers from different Nile countries to discuss the media coverage of hot topics like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
In this first episode with talk to Zaki Shubber about what is water diplomacy and with Yasir Mohamed about the role that science could play in Nile hydropolitics.

- by Emanuele Fantini
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- Media Studies, Science Communication, Water, Water Conflicts