We conclude our recent focus on strategically important resources by focusing this week on water scarcity as a potential source of conflict. Indeed, looking at this problem is especially important when we consider that all future water-related conflicts are likely to be underpinned by the impact of climate change, environmental degradation and mass migration, all of which are transnational problems rather than merely local ones. Additionally, there is the problem of energizing the global economy. As last week’s focus upon energy security demonstrated, the core functions that drive this economy (such as resource extraction) also rely heavily on finite water resources.

With all the above in mind, we begin this week by outlining the very real, as well as the often unseen, problems confronting water security. This analysis is then followed on Tuesday with an overview of how the international system has attempted to safeguard against water conflicts through legal and diplomatic means in the past. In addition, we also consider whether these means will actually be capable of bounding the ‘water wars’ of the not-too-distant future. On Wednesday, we will look at the history of water-based conflicts and pin-point the sites of current water wars. Crucially, we also consider where and in what context these wars might be fought in the future. Finally, we close the week by looking at how institutions could better manage international water conflicts, both at the transnational and national level.