Co-existing Conflict and Cooperation in Transboundary Waters.

The purpose of this paper is to exemplify how conflict and cooperation co-exist in transboundary water management. Previously, conflict and cooperation have been treated as independent forms of interaction among actors in transboundary water management, especially states. The underlying assumption was that conflict could give way to peaceful co-operation. However, even during violent confrontation between actors, a form of collaborative action can take place, while peaceful cooperation can hide important tensions and inequities. ‘Securitized’ and ‘desecuritized’ relations between actors in interdependent ‘basin hydro-security complexes’ can exist side by side. This paper therefore proposes that conflict and co-operation co-exist, to form a range of actions actors can take. The Transboundary Waters Interaction Nexus (TWINS) offers a conceptual approach in identifying differing levels of co-existing conflict and cooperation in riparian relations. The advantage of this approach is that the historical development and dynamics of riparian relations can be charted, so that the temporal component of conflict and cooperation which impact on today’s basin relations (the ‘shadow of the past’) is included.The relations in the Orange, Tigris-Euphrates and the Mekong River basins are subjected to a TWINS analysis. The case studies show various dynamisms in basin relationships, which indicate the changes of status quo in management regimes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]