BEYOND WATER POLITICS: THE KEMPIR-ABAD RESERVOIR CONFLICT AND THE COMPLEXITY OF REGIONAL RELATIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA

Conflicts over natural resources are rarely limited to the resources themselves. Water conflicts, for one, typically expose greater political, historical, and social issues that go beyond simply geographical or infrastructure issues. Water is no longer just a fluid element in Central Asia: it has become tied up with the concepts of sovereignty, identity and interstate relations, where rivers and reservoirs still play a vital role in agriculture, energy generation, and regional security.