Water is an essential resource for agricultural, industrial and domestic activities. These different uses make water a national priority for all states in the world but the problems associated with it are particularly well illustrated in Central Asia. This is so because of an important historical characteristic: Russian, then Soviet colonisation favoured agriculture in a regional approach to management, rather than as a function of each republic’s needs. This integrated management was not a problem in itself, since energy policy followed the same principle, so allowing the upstream states to benefit from hydrocarbon fuels (especially coal and gas) from the downstream states without using their hydroelectric potential.⁽¹⁾ The problems did not really surface therefore until 1991, with the independence of the republics and the collapse of the system.

In each of the five Central Asian states, water is now considered a matter of national security. In contrast to the water-related conflicts in the Middle East, the problem is not a question of shortage but rather a reconsideration of the water-sharing regime set up under the Soviets.

The case of Central Asia is interesting because, although the division of water resources is a genuine problem, since independence the different Central Asian states have agreed on setting up several regional institutions. An analysis of the politics of water in Central Asia can lead to contradictory observations, considering water either as a source of international conflict or as a factor in regional cooperation. The issue of water in Central Asia will here be discussed from the viewpoint of this apparent dichotomy.