Water Conflicts in Central Asia: Some Recommendations on the Non-Conflictual Use of Water

José Antonio Peña-Ramos,Daria Fursova,Philipp Bagus

doi:10.3390/su13063479

Abstract

Central Asian states, where freshwater is a strategic resource, are oriented towards regional conflict rather than cooperation. First, the article analyses the role of the unequal distribution of freshwater that has been generating conflicts in Central Asia in the post-Soviet period. Next, these conflicts are examined. Finally, we provide some recommendations on the non-conflictual use of water.

Highlights

Freshwater is a strategic natural resource in any region of the world, and this is especially true for the Central Asian region, which currently comprises five former constituent republics of the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan
In order to compensate the scarcity of scientific literature on the issue, this paper analyses the role of freshwater as a natural resource that has been generating conflicts in Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as the conflicts themselves
The Pacific Institute complies in its Water Conflict Chronology [27], which is regularly updated and reviewed, 926 conflicts concerning freshwater that erupted over five thousand years worldwide, from 3000 BC to 2019, inclusive

Summary

Introduction

Freshwater is a strategic natural resource in any region of the world, and this is especially true for the Central Asian region, which currently comprises five former constituent republics of the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. It is fossil fuels—principally, oil and natural gas—that have always been exposed to scientific scrutiny in the post-Soviet states [1,2,3,4]. When the Soviet Union collapsed, new independent states began to emerge, failing to define their territorial borders properly. We face a phenomenon of compact residence and a large number of enclaves

Methods

Results

Conclusion