ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book brings the contributions from Ken Conca, based on the American University (United States of America), who highlights a central “blind spots” regarding contemporary approaches to transboundary water: the political economy of water, climate-driven water conflict, and the relationship between the emergence of conflicts related to adaptation of climate change policies. It presents the hydroparadiplomacy concept for studying conflicts over transboundary water and promotes a synthesis between paradiplomacy, understood as diplomatic strategies and actions performed by subnational actors, and hydrodiplomacy, defined when water becomes a centerpiece of cross-border diplomacy. The book then analyzes the spatial pitfalls in institutionalizing transboundary water. It also demonstrates that cooperation and conflict over water in transboundary river basins cannot be defined in an antagonistic way by considering Central American issues.
