Promoting Water Cooperation in the WANA Region: Widening the Base for Water Diplomacy

The arguments put forward in this paper suggest that the political importance of water determines the scope for diplomatic efforts. At the same time, there may be opportunities for different forms of water management that are not envisaged under traditional understandings of transboundary cooperation. But water diplomacy (in its most traditional sense) being perhaps undeserving of the panacea-like status it has achieved is no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It must be remembered that regardless of whether water cooperation is likely to lead to peace, modalities to promote water cooperation remain important.