ABSTRACT
This chapter delineates the aims of the book, explaining why it is important to explore the interconnections and interdependence that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union in Central Asia. The chapter advances a critical approach to the analysis of transboundary water politics (or hydropolitics), illustrating how the management of shared water resources is essentially a political matter. It then provides an overview of the Central Asian setting and of the two case studies adopted, the Rogun Dam in Tajikistan and the Kambarata Dam in Kyrgyzstan.
