Water Diplomacy in Central Asia Water as a Source of Regional Cooperation or Conflict?
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Kulcsszavak: | Central Asia diplomacy Discourse Analysis Rogun Dam Tajikistan Uzbekistan Water |
| Online Access: | http://dolgozattar.uni-bge.hu/47457 |
| Abstract: | Thispaper examines the official discourse of two Central Asian countries, namelyUzbekistan, and Tajikistan on thesurrounding construction of the Rogun Dam in Tajikistan, a controversial projectwith potentially significant environmental and geopolitical implications, with a constructivistapproach to gain insight into whether the discourse invokes conflict rhetoric.It analyses official statementsincluding Presidential speeches over the Rogun Dam project from 1991 to 2023. CentralAsia consists of five independent countries: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. Water is a scarce resourcein the region, additionally,it is naturally distributed unequally. Water-rich but economically poorupstream countries, Kyrgyzstan, andTajikistan, want to take advantage of their natural resources to boost their economy by building huge hydropowerplants and exporting energy to other countriesincluding Pakistan and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, an agriculture-orientedcountry, Uzbekistan, is againstconstructing dams over shared rivers, especially the Rogun dam. These differentinterests of neighboring countriesare leading to conflicts in the region. There have been several armed conflicts between the countries throughoutthe years. When discussing the Rogun hydropower construction development, both nations looked to be insulting toeach other in their public comments.However, over time researched, tones towards each other softened. This research points to the greater likelihood that theconflicts in the region in the twenty-first century will be due towater disputes, still achieving cooperation over water issues is highly possible. |
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