From Arms Racing to “Dam Racing” in Asia

 
Transatlantic Academy Bosch Public Policy Fellow Brahma Chellaney’s most recent publication has been released as part of the TA's Paper Series. The paper, drawing on the author’s book: Water: Asia’s New Battleground published in 2011, examines how the geopolitical risks arising from dam-building, particularly in Asia, can be stemmed. It does so by examining broader water tensions and competition, which center on four distinct zones: China and its neighbors; South Asia; Southeast Asia; and Central Asia, where the Soviet Union’s disintegration left conflicting claims over water supplies among the five so-called “stans” — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.