ABSTRACT
Attempts to generate agreement regarding the access, allocation, and use of shared waters involve negotiation. Part of such negotiation may involve a wide range of stakeholders in informal problem-solving activities, while final decisions may only involve elected or appointed officials representing a country or a unit of a government within a country. A mutual gains approach (MGA) to negotiation embraces both – seeking to involve a wide range of stakeholders in informal consensus building that is then followed by formal agreement-making by those with legal authority to decide, commit, and implement. The theory and practice of MGA are described in this chapter along with a review of the obstacles to using an MGA to water diplomacy. Ways of overcoming these obstacles are presented to ensure fairer, more efficient, more stable, more adaptable, and wiser agreements.
