Conventional warfare has always been dominated by personnel, gun powder, tanks and other mechanical weapons. But the control of water has always held strategic significance in warfare, serving as a decisive advantage for the side that could effectively enforce a naval blockade or contaminate the enemy's water supply. We can see various example of such practice in the history of warfare from Bulgarian forces destroying ottoman water infrastructure to US forces destroying irrigation system in Vietnam and causing food insecurity during Vietnam war.
Water stress has exponentially increased in 2022 with lowest water level in China to drought in horn of Africa. Increase in water scarcity makes water a valuable asset as well as more critical weapon. In today’s geopolitics, water has transitioned beyond just a weapon used in war rather a multidimensional weapon that shapes diplomacy as well as international relations.
LINK: Horn of Africa drought drives over 22 million people to hunger
Nowadays, many dams are being built along the rivers restricting the access of water towards the downstream of the river resulting in food insecurities. Let’s observe the Asian river Mekong which passes through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Asia is an energy hungry Continent and countries like China are heavily dependent on coal and nonrenewable energy. However, the trend is to go all green and hydro is considered to be a green energy. So, everyone is building dams in the long rivers. As of 2019, 11 dams on Mekong River were in operation and 11 under construction alone in China and many more on the downstream in Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
It has highly impacted the livelihood of the people in downstream from food insecurity, decrease in water level to affecting fishery profession. But the giant issue here is the control of water that upstream nation like China can have. They can easily stop or decrease the flow of water as well as flood all the downstream nation giving them a great political leverage. However, Mekong is not the sole river experiencing such fate nor China only the nation that holds such leverage. There is similar dispute over damming on Brahmaputra River between two Asian giants China and India. Over two-third rivers of world have been dammed and it involves all the big countries whether be it USA or India.
LINK: Two-thirds of the longest rivers no longer flow freely—and it's harming us
Water is also being used as political tool to punish or control the adversary. We can witness such activities in Middle east where all most all of the war faction use water as a significant asset in their arsenal. They cut off the water supply that flows to adversary, sometimes contaminate the water as well as flood the enemy frontline by releasing too much water.
For more info: Water and Civil wars in Middle East
Water being used in wars is one thing and war for water resources is another. Such desperation shows the condition of water scarcity in the many regions of the world. The tension between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the distribution and use of water from the Nile River is quite evident in recent years. The dependence of many nations on common river has been issue of conflict like Mekong River I mentioned above. As water stress continues to become more serious, such conflicts and issues are more likely to rise.
There are various frameworks to prevent the conflicts due to water such as United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses which regulates the use of transboundary water resources and reduces the risk of water related conflicts. To know more about the law . But there still lacks the conscious and effort regarding the matter in global level. There should exist a sophisticated mechanism to discuss as well as negotiate such matters just like presence of WTO for trade related matters. Government should invest more in preserving water resources and water infrastructure. They should protect the right of every individual to have access to clean water and prevent use of water as weapon.
In a nutshell, various countries are facing water stress nowadays making water one of the most valuable assets as well as a new frontier of conflict and chaos. Water has added new dimension to already complex international relations. Also, now is the time to look beyond the hydropower as the only renewable sources of energy. We can’t just go on damming the rivers without being concerned about downstream ecosystem as well as livelihood.
We do not know the worth of water till the well is dry. -Thomas Fuller