Environmental peacebuilding : transboundary environmental cooperation and conflict prevention

Environment and politics are interdependent. Environmental issues disrupt political status quo, cause shocks to human health, alter the habitat, and threaten water and food security. Conversely, political decisions can bring about environmental disruptions including climate change, anthropogenic, and natural disasters. The research on the relationship between environmental problems and interstate relations is inconclusive, however it shows a nexus between conflict and cooperation—that is, similar conditions i.e., environmental degradation, can lead to either conflictive or cooperative outcomes. Moreover, cooperation has the potential to create stability and lasting peace. Given these assumptions, this paper analyzes two case studies: the Nile Basin and the Lake Chad Basin and finds that in conflict prone areas that have a history of agreements over water are less likely to fight. Moreover, a hydrohegemon has a stabilizing power in the region, whereas poor states experiencing water scarcity are likely clash.