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10302. Autumn 2008 Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 38, no. 1, p. 211
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section lists articles and reviews of books relevant to Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Entries are classified under the following headings: Reference and General; History (to 1948) and Geography; Palestinian Politics and Society; Jerusalem; Israeli Politics, Society, and Zionism; Arab and Middle Eastern Politics; International Relations; Law; Military; Economy, Society, and Education; Literature and Art; Book Reviews; and Reports Received.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Arabia, and Jerusalem
10303. Water in the 21st Century: Defining the Elements of Global Crises and Potential Solutions
- Author:
- Umpanu Lall, Tanya Heikkila, Casey Brown, and Tobias Siegfried
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Will we run out of fresh water in the 21st century? The media highlights the parched lands, dry riverbeds and springs and falling groundwater tables across the world daily. Over a billion people living in developing countries without access to safe drinking water are facing economic and water poverty. Another real and troubling indicator is the rapid rate of aquatic habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in the last century. Projected changes in climate due to greenhouse gases invariably portray a future world that is much drier in the tropics—where over half the world's population lives—and suggest a global increase in floods and droughts.
- Topic:
- World Bank
- Political Geography:
- America and United Nations
10304. Water Wars: Obscuring Opportunities
- Author:
- Geoffrey D. Dabelko and Karin R. Bencala
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Speaking at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon weighed in on water conflict: The challenge of securing safe and plentiful water for all is one of the most daunting challenges faced by the world today...Too often, where we need water, we find guns instead. Population growth will make the problem worse. So will climate change. As the global economy grows, so will its thirst. Many more conflicts lie just over the horizon.
- Topic:
- Environment
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Switzerland
10305. Climate Change and Water Resources: The Challenges Ahead
- Author:
- Kathleen A. Miller
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Changes in water resource availability, water quality and the destructive potential of storms and floods will play a central role in determining how climate change will affect human well-being and the functioning of the natural systems on which we depend. The critical role of water may appear obvious given its importance for agricultural productivity, human health and the functioning of ecosystems. It is perhaps less widely understood that water also plays a key role in the functioning of the climate system. In fact, global warming and changes in the water cycle are intricately linked.
- Topic:
- Environment
10306. Healing the Enlightenment Rift: Rationality, Spirituality and Shared Waters
- Author:
- Aaron T. Wolf
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Water management, by definition, is conflict management. Water, unlike other scarce, consumable resources, is used to fuel all facets of society, from biologies to economies to aesthetics to spiritual practice. Moreover, it fluctuates wildly in space and time, its management is usually fragmented and it is often subject to vague, arcane and/or contradictory legal principles. As such, there is no such thing as managing water for a single purpose—all water management is multi-objective and based on navigating competing interests. Within a nation, these interests include domestic users, agriculturalists, hydropower generators, recreators and environmentalists. Any two of the interests are regularly at odds, and the complexity of finding mutually acceptable solutions increases exponentially as more stakeholders are involved. Add international boundaries, and the difficulty grows substantially yet again.
- Topic:
- Health and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, India, and Israel
10307. The Forgotten Infrastructure: Safeguarding Freshwater Ecosystems
- Author:
- Sandra L. Postel
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The water strategies of the 20th century helped to supply drinking water, food, flood control and electricity to a large portion of the human population. These strategies largely focused on engineering projects to store, extract and control water for human benefit. Indeed, it is hard to fathom today's world of 6.6 billion people and more than $65 trillion in annual economic output without the vast network of dams, reservoirs, pumps, canals and other water infrastructure now in place. These projects, however, have often failed to distribute benefits equitably and have resulted in the degradation, or outright destruction, of natural freshwater ecosystems that in their healthy state provide valuable goods and services to society.
- Topic:
- Environment
- Political Geography:
- Europe and South Africa
10308. The Potential and Promise of Water Pricing
- Author:
- Collins A. Ayoo and Theodore M. Horbulyk
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The claim is often made that more effective use of pricing and various water charges can remedy or completely solve problems of water scarcity, shortage or overuse. A common view is that users pay too little for water and, as a result, they use too much. The public or private agencies that supply water to users could levy higher prices willingly, or the regulatory agencies that manage and oversee water resources could enforce higher rates. Implementing these approaches in developing countries may present special challenges due to the high costs involved or due to inadequate resources to assign, monitor and enforce diverse rights to water use. However, are there reasons that other countries, not so constrained, have not implemented effective water pricing strategies? Is this pricing prescription really so straightforward?
- Political Geography:
- Canada
10309. Water and Gender: The Unexpected Connection That Really Matters
- Author:
- Vivienne Bennett, Sonia Davila-Poblete, and Maria Nieves Rico
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Since the mid-1990s, worldwide focus on water scarcity has exploded. Attention has moved beyond the technical dimensions of water provision to the political and social contexts in which water management occurs. In many places, especially where water is scarce, control over water confers power. The political analysis of water is then an analysis of power relations. As social scientists have entered the water world, and more and more case studies are carried out in Latin America, Africa and Asia, another facet of the politics of water that has been brought to light is gender differentiation in water usage and water management. In our 2005 book, Opposing Currents: The Politics of Water and Gender in Latin America, we provided a framework for understanding the connection between water and gender and a review of the development of global water policy and gender policy since the early 1990s, using case studies from six Latin American countries to highlight the role of women in water management. We found that substantial change is still needed to overcome pernicious gender bias and imbalances that distort water management and lead to ineffective planning in the water sector.
- Topic:
- Economics
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Asia, and Latin America
10310. From Universal Prescriptions to Living Rights: Local and Indigenous Water Rights Confront Public-Private Partnerships in the Andes
- Author:
- Rutgerd Boelens
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- With growing water scarcity and conflicts in many regions of the world, water rights and property relations have become a pivotal issue in water legislation efforts, policy debates and rural development programs. Still, there appears to be an enormous lack of understanding of what these water rights and property relations are in actual practice. For the most part, policymakers, intervening agencies and rural development institutions typically approach water rights as globally applicable, entitlement recipes. Water rights are portrayed as universally defined procedures that prescribe rational water-use claims and authorize corresponding user licenses. For peasant communities and indigenous water user organizations in the Andean region—as with many parts of the world—the right to water has many components that go beyond universal reasoning and policies. Water rights involve access to resources, context-defined privileges and agreements on system operations. Water rights also include decision making powers over control, issues of belonging (i.e., hydraulic identities —water's role in a particular culture) and agreements that closely intertwine the normative, infrastructural and organizational domains of water control. All these components are created, reconfirmed and then re-created in location-specific historical processes within particular cultural and political contexts.