ABSTRACT
At the conference, which initiated this book, there was discussion about the development of institutions and case law to manage the Rhine in Europe and the Mekong in Southeast Asia, as well as the Ganges in India. What became very apparent was that these river basins were hardly comparable, and that it was very difficult to imagine viable legal frameworks of universal applicability emerging for the management of international rivers, unless at the most banal and general level. The treaties, which have developed covering international responsibilities in the Rhine, are tailored to the circumstances of that river and its nations.
