ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the practical utility of the concept of 'sustainable development' through a case study. It considers hydrographical, legal, political, economic, and ecological stakes that affect the 'use' of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The chapter utilizes regional data about these three riparian countries in order to define the effective context of implementation for 'sustainable development' within a milieu conceived as a natural, economic, and political system. It focuses on the place assigned to protection and efficient management of water resources in international documents since the end of the 1970s. The chapter describes the necessity of cooperation between agents, which was considered in Agenda 21 as a means of sustainable use of water resources. It discusses the possibility of future cooperation in spite of successive individually rational choices and the intervention of external agents, identifies the strategies of the concerned parties and considers possible combinations of these strategies within the non-cooperative game theory.
