January 2013: The January-March issue of “A World of Science,” a magazine produced by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), features an article by Annika Kramer, Aaron T. Wolf, Alexander Carius and Geoffrey D. Dabelko on water conflict and cooperation.

The article highlights that, despite water conflict over allocation, timing of flows and water quality, there is little evidence for full-scale water wars, noting that cooperative events are twice as common in transboundary river basins. It stresses that small-scale conflict is much more likely than large-scale water conflict, and that water conflicts can exacerbate local instability. The article includes case studies on cooperation and conflict: between the Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians on the Jordan River Basin; over the privatization of water in Cochabamba, Bolivia; and on the Mekong River. It emphasizes that strong institutions and cooperative mechanisms reduce conflict and promote peaceful resolution of water conflict.

The magazine also features news items on, inter alia: the doubling of biodiversity funding by developed countries; the creation by Australia of the world’s largest marine protected area (MPA); marine biodiversity loss; Nigeria to establish international biotech institute; and the testing of a tsunami warning system. [Publication: A World of Science, Vol. 11, No. 1]