History illustrates that while water can be a source of political tension and conflict, in modern times, access to the lifesaving resource – as well as sanitation – can be an important tool in fostering lasting peace.
The need is real: More than one in four people globally, about 2.1 billion, lack access to clean drinking water, and more than 3.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation, according to the World Health Organization.
Water can be a catalyst for conflict as countries and regions fight over access for human use, irrigation, transportation; it can also be a casualty of war, through conflict-triggered pollution, destroyed infrastructure or deliberate fouling of sensitive supplies. Traditionally, the United States has played a vital role in recognizing water’s pivotal role as both a source of conflict and potential stabilizer by ensuring that negotiation and mediation efforts around its use are prioritized.
As the United States continues its review and reprioritization of foreign assistance, there is an opportunity to effectively and efficiently shape and improve U.S. assistance on water security to enhance our own security and prosperity. Cooperative management of scarce resources builds diplomatic muscle memory, and in relationships with historical mistrust, technical dialogue on water can ensure doors are kept open when regional politics tries to slam them shut.
Conversely, water scarcity or mismanagement can twist political tensions into open instability. Around the world, water crises can add fuel to political disputes, driving human displacement and weakening fragile states. Add population growth and ongoing industrialization, and water has increasingly become a trigger for conflict that can spread regionally, destabilizing trade routes, spreading diseases and famine and triggering human displacement.
Historically, U.S. policy has focused on the needs of populations, prioritizing shared access and facilitating dialogue around this literally lifesaving resource. Investment in water infrastructure was critical to the Marshall Plan, through which the United States helped rebuild Europe after World War II, and is part of the robust engagement that is the hallmark of the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, which focuses on transboundary governance and data transparency for the five Mekong countries – Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In 2014, Congress passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act, which highlights that “the United States should be a global leader in helping provide sustainable access to clean water and sanitation for the world’s most vulnerable populations,” directly tying health to water.
There are currently places around the world where water has both triggered conflict and been a casualty of conflict.
In Iraq, entire communities along the Euphrates River have been displaced because of drying marshes, with many locating to major urban centers such as Basra, in southern Iraq, where the dwindling water supply has triggered protests. In Yemen, the conflict has damaged core water infrastructure, including sanitation systems, triggering outbreaks of diseases such as cholera.
In Africa’s continent-spanning stretch of arid land called the Sahel, traditional tensions between communities have intensified as wells dry up and rivers shift and shrink, disrupting agriculture. Lake Chad, which touches Chad, Niger, and Cameroon in west Africa, has traditionally provided irrigation support and fishing livelihoods for an estimated 30 million people, but has shrunk by nearly 90% since the 1970s, displacing millions, fueling instability and devastating the economies of countries.
Armed groups around the world exploit water tensions, metering out access to drinking water, access to irrigation and grazing for livestock. Even today, as conflict continues in the Middle East, desalination plants in both Iran and Bahrain have been attacked, cutting off sources of fresh water for population centers that will take years to rebuild.
There are also good news stories.
In South Asia, the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan has remained a stabilizing force, despite political tensions, but this framework relies on continued communication and technical cooperation, even when diplomatic ties are strained. The World Bank has also focused on stability secured through shared investments in water infrastructure, such as mechanisms like those in Central Asia, including agreements between Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, and between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, for operation and maintenance of shared water infrastructure and resources.
The United States, other countries, international organizations, and private groups can play a critical role in improving access to water and sanitation by continuing traditional leadership through diplomacy, convening and targeted investment.
The United States can, for example, continue to facilitate structured cooperation and dialogue on shared river basins, where more than 3 billion people depend on waters that cross national borders. Where formal agreements exist between countries, a mechanism exists to resolve emerging tensions – and technical dialogue can continue even when political relations are strained.
The United States, through bilateral and regional partnerships, can encourage water cooperation as a confidence-building measure … even when other channels are fragile.
Early identification of potential hotspots remains key. By including water scarcity as an early warning indicator, international organizations, relief groups and regional bodies can identify emerging conflict areas and take preemptive action, rather than resorting to reactive aid.
Additionally, safeguarding water infrastructure during conflict, in line with existing international humanitarian law, remains vital. The United States, along with partner countries, can prioritize establishing neutral technical actors in fraught zones to minimize potential exploitation and reduce political friction over this fundamental resource.
Water crises are not abstract incidents, but both the accelerators and the culmination of conflict in fragile systems. By promoting cooperation, identifying risks early, and protecting critical infrastructure, the international community can prevent a spark of scarcity from becoming a roaring flame of conflict.
In a world of limited resources and frequent geopolitical shocks, managing water wisely is not only a development imperative, but a security strategy.
