Water Cooperation and Conflict

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Water resources are in a state of crisis in many parts of the world. Despite such scarcity, water has been a catalyst for cooperation and environmental peace building among nations and other contending parties for millennia. In this course we will use regional case studies including farmer-herder confrontations in Africa, the weaponization of water, and a survey of existing water treaties and agreements, to better understand the dynamics of global hydro politics. Students will then be able to identify the contexts in which water is used and abused as an instrument of conflict and cooperation and to evaluate policy measures to achieve the most favorable outcomes.