Overview

This book is the first collection of state-of-the-art research projects analyzing water conflict and cooperation with an explicitly theoretical point of view. Its fourteen chapters offer a comprehensive and up-to-date overview on how the application of various theoretical perspectives can support the work of scholars and practitioners in mitigating water conflict and developing cooperation. The volume starts out from a literature review on the theorization of transboundary waters in International Relations, which prepares the ground for the demonstration of the latest approaches of scholars currently working on this field. The discussion of their findings is divided into four main sections. The first section deals with reflections and critiques on the grand theories of International Relations, proposing new and more nuanced frameworks for understanding and managing transboundary water relations by going beyond the traditional assumptions. The second section focuses on the catalysts and barriers of cooperation, applying theoretical frameworks which reveal the consequences of the dynamics in power relations and institutional frameworks. The third section investigates into the perspectives at the intersections of theory and practice related to the most practical field within the scope of the volume: water diplomacy. The fourth section introduces new perspectives to provide specific entry points for understanding and managing water conflict and cooperation. Overall, the work intends to demonstrate that the theorization of transboundary waters can significantly contribute to the deeper understanding and the more efficient management of water conflicts and cooperation from several aspects. The authors come from diverse backgrounds, and their individual careers are often related to the intersections of theory and practice in the field of transboundary water management. Their expertise covers water issues from all around the globe, which is reflected in the range of the analyzed case studies. The diversity of the experts involved, their backgrounds, their perspectives, the applied theories, and the analyzed cases was an important priority for the editors. 

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9783031433757

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Kinga Szálkai, PhD is an associate professor at Budapest Metropolitan University, Hungary. Previously, she worked at Eötvös Loránd University as a senior lecturer. She also held various research positions, e.g. at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, at the Antall József Knowledge Centre, at Central European University, and is a long-time member of the Corvinus Society for Foreign Affairs and Culture. She earned her PhD degree in International Relations and Security Studies from Corvinus University of Budapest in 2017. Her main research area is water as a security challenge in Central Asia. Her current research focuses on large dams as tools of identity construction in the Soviet Union and in the post-Soviet region; and theories and practice of water security. She has publications in leading Hungarian and international journals.  Máté Szalai, PhD is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Cofund Fellow at Ca’ Foscari University, Italy. He obtained his doctoral degree at Corvinus University of Budapest in 2019, where he also worked as an assistant lecturer, a senior lecturer, and later as an associate professor. Besides academic teaching, he worked as a researcher and the coordinator of the Middle East Research Program at the Hungarian Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade between 2015 and 2022.  His main fields of research include the international relations of the Gulf region and the foreign and security policy of small states. In 2021, he was a visiting research scholar at The Harriman Institute of Columbia University in the City of New York. Besides numerous journal articles, he is the author of the book entitled The foreign and security policy of smaller Gulf states – Size, power, and regime security in the Middle East published by Routledge in 2021. His current research focuses on the influence-building activities of small Gulf states in the context of the changing global order.

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