Contending Approaches to Water Disputes in Transboundary River Basins: What can the Discipline of International Relations Offer?
Abstract
The vital role of water for human beings and development has received worldwide attention. Through the activities of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations since the beginning of the 1970s, much emphasis has been placed on the global status of water, namely water scarcity in absolute terms, and a lack of access to clean water and sanitation. Under such developments, there has arisen a debate among scholars on the issue of management and utilization of water resources, as well as on the likelihood of a conflict that would be a result of the worsening situation of water supply and demand. In the debate one can delineate three groups of scholars and experts whose views can be associated with the leading schools of thought in international relations (IR) theory, realism and liberal institutionalism, and international (liberal) political economy. This paper will discuss contending approaches to water disputes in transboundary river basins with particular reference to the discipline of international relations.
Keywords
Transboundary Water Resources, International Relations Theory, Water Wars, Virtual Water, Integrated Water Resources Management
Citation
Kibaroğlu Ayşegül and Sümer, Vakur, “Contending Approaches to Water Disputes in Transboundary River Basins: What can the Discipline of International Relations Offer?”, International Relations, Volume 3, Issue 12 (Winter 2006-2007), pp. 21-48.
Affiliations
- Ayşegül Kibaroğlu, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Middle East Technical University, Department of International Relations
- Vakur Sümer, Research Assistant, Selçuk University, Department of International Relations