Water Conflict and Cooperation in Central Asia

The numerous rivers that meander through Central Asia’s rugged terrain of mountains, steppe and desert have for centuries shaped its socio-political and economic landscape. As different rulers have sought to demarcate political borders and establish varied systems of governance, water continues to link the diverse populations that now inhabit the newly independent Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union -- Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.1 Water also physically connects the Soviet successor states with their neighbors to the South, East and North. The Amu Darya or what once was referred to as the Oxus provides a vivid illustration. After originating in the mountains of northern Afghanistan and Tajikistan, the Amu Darya traverses the territory of Tajikistan before flowing downstream through Khorazm province in Uzbekistan and Dashhowuz province in Turkmenistan on its long journey toward the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan before ultimately emptying into the Aral Sea. Historically, the intersection of rivers in Central Asia, such as the point where the Surkhan Darya enters the Amu Darya at Termez, has offered traders and pilgrims from India, Central Asia, and Russia a natural meeting place both to rest and exchange their wares (Soucek 2000, 12). Other rivers such as the Irtysh River encapsulate Central Asia’s strategic location as a buffer zone between two of the world’s largest countries -- China to the east and Russia to the north, as its course takes it from the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang province in western China into Kazakhstan and then northwest to join the Ob River near Khanty-Mansiysk in Russian Siberia. Similarly, the Ili River connects China with Central Asia, as its path takes it from Xinjiang province in western China through eastern Kazakhstan before emptying into Lake Balkhash -- a major landlocked body of water in Central Asia.