ABSTRACT
This contribution delves into what makes governments cooperate and enter into conflict over water. Interdependencies with respect to shared water resources would be expected to incite international solidarity and coordination for the joint benefit and risk management, but this is not the pattern observed. Yet, while enthusiasms for internationalism appear to have cooled, there is not a shred of evidence for predicting scarcity-based water wars between sovereignty-obsessed states. It is observed many conflicts between states are about fears of mega-infrastructural projects, perceived as threats when potentially used as “taps.” A third, critical school notes many basins are neither characterized by war nor peace and seeks to understand structural power differences as an explanation. These scholars increasingly train their gaze on the substate impacts of interstate dealings.
