Waters Without Borders: Scarcity and the Future of State Interactions over Shared Water Resources.

摘要

In response to demographic forces, climate change, globalization, shifting societal values and norms, low rates of adoption of technological innovation, inadequate domestic and international laws, and market forces, pressures on water resources have increased to levels unprecedented in human history. Unanswered, the trend will accelerate in the future. Despite earlier perceptions that water scarcity most often leads to conflict, many recent studies conclude that cooperation is actually a more prevalent outcome in situations where two or more countries share water resources. Either way, future trends should not be overly predicated on past outcomes given that the anticipated scale of the impending water crisis exponentially outstrips scarcity conditions experienced to date.