Promoting Transboundary Water Security in the Aral Sea Basin through International Law

Book excerpt: Water security threats arising from inadequate access to water for sustaining ecosystems, livelihoods, human well-being and socio-economic development has gained increasing attention over the past decades all over the world, but especially in international river basins shared by two or more states. In the Aral Sea basin, shared by Afghanistan and five post-Soviet republics of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - water security issues are extremely pressing due to heavy reliance on, and competition over, shared waters. Promoting Transboundary Water Security in the Aral Sea Basin through International Law addresses the current gap in the literature by moving beyond the static identification of treaties and norms to examine how these treaties and norms can work for water security in practice. In its thorough and incisive scholarship, the book serves as a contribution toward peaceful and sustainable regulation of transboundary watercourses and their ecosystems in the Aral Sea basin.