ABSTRACT
The most pressing water challenges of our time are complex, crossing natural, societal, and political boundaries. These challenges cannot be adequately addressed through traditional, reductionist approaches that rely solely on metrics like water scarcity or global crisis narratives. Water diplomacy responds to this complexity by offering a principled and pragmatic framework that fosters enduring relationships across scales and sectors. Rather than focusing solely on conflict resolution, water diplomacy plays a threefold role in mitigating conflict, incentivizing cooperation, and operationalizing adaptive governance. Case studies such as Sukhomajri, the Great Basin, and the Sava River illustrate how water diplomacy can be applied at community, subnational, and transnational scales. This chapter introduces seven key propositions that guide readers throughout the handbook, offering a structured approach to navigating the nuanced world of water cooperation and governance.
