In Central Asia, summers have long brought both abundance and scarcity. As crops grow and then ripen in the dry heat, water becomes increasingly scarce. And with warmer seasons in recent years, river levels have fallen to new lows. That has led something else to sprout up: water diplomacy.
Among the region’s five nations – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – historic rivalry over water has turned into intense dialogue aimed at trust and cooperation. “The times require more dynamic [action] from us,” said Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev at a recent meeting of the region’s commission for managing transboundary waterways.
August saw a flurry of measures and agreements in this crossroads of Eurasia. Uzbekistan unveiled a plan to conserve water by modernizing its antiquated irrigation network. Kazakhstan funded restoration for the receding Caspian Sea, with Turkmenistan joining the push. A few months earlier, Tajikistan, which houses the vast Bahri Tojik reservoir, agreed to release and share millions of cubic meters of water with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
“Water diplomacy goes beyond simple cooperation,” according to Barbara Janusz-Pawletta of the International Water Management Institute. At an April conference in Uzbekistan that highlighted “trust” and “dialogue,” she emphasized the importance of “ensuring all parties’ interests are taken into account.”
Central Asia’s openness to dialogue and joint action are notable, given that these former Soviet republics have had contentious disagreements over borders previously demarcated by Moscow. More than two decades ago, the International Crisis Group dubbed this legacy a Pandora’s box that could exacerbate resource competition and ethnic divisions.
Contrary to such predictions, the countries have successfully pursued territorial peacemaking, even under authoritarian, “strongman” rule. Earlier this year, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan resolved a decades-long border dispute in the picturesque, populous, and fertile Ferghana Valley, where hundreds of people have died in armed clashes over the past three decades.
Soon after, the European Union participated in the first-ever EU-Central Asia summit. In addition to shared goals on water and environmental cooperation, the joint declaration also referred to promoting and protecting “fundamental freedoms” of a civil society, including freedoms of expression, association, and the press.
Central Asia’s journey through the process of water and land negotiations has required communication, reciprocity, and mutual respect. These features offer a navigational guide to other parts of the world grappling with similar issues. And they could also inform needed economic and democratic transformation within Central Asia.
