Transboundary Water Governance in the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin: Hydropolitical History and Current Challenges

Abstract

Since the second half of the 20th century, trans-boundary water governance in the Euphrates-Tigris river system has evolved with competitive power dynamics and cooperative institutional development. Dr. Kibaroğlu’s speech will focus on the evolution of transboundary water politics in the basin over a series of consecutive periods. Overarching political problems, namely, the Syrian civil war and the deterioration of bilateral political relations between any pair of the riparians constitute to disable political background for the implementation of good water governance in the Euphrates- Tigris river basin.

Currently a visiting professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Dr. Aysegül Kibaroğlu is professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at MEF University in Istanbul, Turkey. She has published extensively on the politics of water resources, with an emphasis on the Euphrates Tigris river basin, contributing articles to the International Negotiation Journal, Water International, Journal of International Affairs, and Global Governance.