ABSTRACT
Identity factors are more important in political conflict and regimes. Regimes were constructed for managing the waters of the Nile and the Indus among countries that had a degree of commonality in terms of language and culture. Arabic is the dominant language of Egypt and Northern Sudan. India and Pakistan also share common languages. They also shared a common pre-partition Britishcontrolled bureaucracy. As a result, the four countries have maintained their river regimes intact since their inception. Turkey and its Arab neighbors, on the other hand, have developed very negative images of each. In its drive to become a part of Europe, Turkey made an assumption that it had to cut its ties with the Arab and Islamic Worlds, including the rivers that bound Turkey (and previous states in the region) to the fertile crescent and ultimately to Arabia and Egypt.
