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The risk of conflict over water is growing ever more severe, and here, at last, is a book that analyzes water through the lens of international peace and security. Brahma Chellaney performs an invaluable service by identifying the multiple causes of global water stress and showing what must be done if conflict over scarce and contested supplies is to be averted. -- Michael Klare, Hampshire College Brahma Chellaney's Water, Peace, and War is the first work to make water the center of its concern and to argue that water is emerging as a more important issue for the fate of mankind than population growth, food supply, pollution, peak oil, other 'peak' commodities, and climate change. The author's writing is fluid, and complex materials are handled with clarity. This is an excellent contribution to a tradition of important works that have argued in one way or another that the world faces some kind of ecological crisis. -- Andrew Nathan, Columbia University Frightened about terrorism? Proliferation? Big Power rivalries? You had better start worrying about water. Brahma Chellaney tells you why, in a tour de force sweeping in its breadth, staggering in its detail, and sobering in its analysis. -- Robert M. Hathaway, Woodrow Wilson Center

We're all familiar with conflicts over territory, but Brahma Chellaney persuasively argues that the most precious resource in these disputes is not land, but water. In a world where nearly one billion people lack access to clean water, Chellaney shows how today's economic growth could lead to tomorrow's 'water wars.' With his policy prescriptions, he also gives us a way to stop these conflicts before they begin. This is a vital book for anybody interested in diplomacy and conflict in the twenty-first century. -- Stanley A. Weiss, founding chairman, Business Executives for National Security This is a well-written, thoroughly researched, and carefully analyzed book on a crucial subject matter. It is impressive for the richness and depth of the chapters, the interdisciplinary nature of the project and the marrying of materials from geopolitics, environmental studies, and geology. It contains a wealth of information on the complex dynamics involving water in the current and emerging political and economic landscape. -- T. V. Paul, James McGill Professor of International Relations, McGill University A broad, integrative, opinionated vision of world politics and history organized around the theme of competition for water resources. Brahma Chellaney's Water, Peace, and War is the first work to make water the center of its concern and to argue that water is emerging as a more important issue for the fate of mankind than population growth, food supply, pollution, peak oil, other 'peak' commodities, and climate change. The author's writing is fluid, and complex materials are handled with clarity. This is an excellent contribution to a tradition of important works that have argued in one way or another that the world faces some kind of ecological crisis. -- Andrew Nathan, Columbia University

There's nothing quite like water. There's no life without it and there's no substitute for it. But as Brahma Chellaney reports in his new book, Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis, by the 2020s some two thirds of the world's population will face problems getting enough of the stuff. In the United States and other highly developed countries, the battles over water pit those who want rapid economic development against those who insist on conservation. (See the long history of California, or just see Roman Polanski's Chinatown.) But in many developing countries, there's nothing about water wars that's figurative; they are ferocious fights for survival. One example: Darfur. And let's not even start talking about the Holy Land, where the River Jordan is neither deep nor wide. Throughout the Middle East and large swathes of Africa, dams and diversions upstream can be acts of virtual-and sometimes literal-war against those farther downstream. Chellaney calls for transparency, collaboration, and sharing across borders. But given the record of so many international initiatives in recent years, it's hard to imagine much action will be taken until the rich and powerful see their wells running dry. (From Newsweek's: Around the World in Six Ideas) Newsweek When the word war is mentioned, most people conjure images of blood, bullets, and violent clashes over land and oil. Hence, fighting a war over something as apparently abundant as water sounds almost surreal, and yet there are places in the world right now where nonshooting battles are already being waged over this precious resource. According to international-affairs authority Chellaney, it's only a matter of time before tanks roll and lives are lost in countries struggling to secure enough water for their citizens. Unless, of course, the world community finds a way to ensure this universal need is met for everyone. Beginning with the sobering fact that almost a billion people don't have access to clean water, Chellaney gives the reader multiple snapshots of existing water-related tensions around the world, then offers several risky but necessary solutions based on current UN-based international rules. A clearly written and thorough guide to a complex problem that, along with global warming, is rapidly becoming one of the world's most serious humanitarian crises. Booklist The risk of conflict over water is growing ever more severe, and here, at last, is a book that analyzes water through the lens of international peace and security. Brahma Chellaney performs an invaluable service by identifying the multiple causes of global water stress and showing what must be done if conflict over scarce and contested supplies is to be averted. -- Michael Klare, Hampshire College Brahma Chellaney's Water, Peace, and War is the first work to make water the center of its concern and to argue that water is emerging as a more important issue for the fate of mankind than population growth, food supply, pollution, peak oil, other 'peak' commodities, and climate change. The author's writing is fluid, and complex materials are handled with clarity. This is an excellent contribution to a tradition of important works that have argued in one way or another that the world faces some kind of ecological crisis. -- Andrew Nathan, Columbia University Frightened about terrorism? Proliferation? Big power rivalries? You had better start worrying about water. Brahma Chellaney tells you why, in a tour de force sweeping in its breadth, staggering in its detail, and sobering in its analysis. -- Robert M. Hathaway, Woodrow Wilson Center

Author Information

Brahma Chellaney is a strategic thinker and a geostrategist tracking major international trends. He is a professor of strategic studies at the independent Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, a fellow of the Nobel Institute in Oslo, a trustee of the National Book Trust, and an affiliate with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London. He has served as a member of the Policy Advisory Group headed by the foreign minister of India and an advisor to India’s National Security Council. As a specialist on international strategic issues, he has held appointments at Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and the Australian National University. He has also been a Bosch Public Policy Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, D.C. Chellaney is the author of nine books, including Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India, and Japan and Water: Asia’s New Battleground, winner of the 2012 Asia Society Bernard Schwartz Book Award.

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