Atlantic Council: "Central Asia needs regional and international cooperation to bolster water security"

 

 

"Central Asia needs regional and international cooperation to bolster water security"

By Ariel Cohen, Wesley Alexander Hill, Wilder Alejandro Sánchez 

Report

Atlantic Council

7 February 2025

Published: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/central-asia-needs-regional-and-international-cooperation-to-bolster-water-security/

Executive summary

Water security is an urgent issue that demands immediate attention from Central Asian governments, businesses, civil society, and their international partners. Climate change, population growth, infrastructure problems, a lack of government foresight, and the unequal distribution of precious water resources between the upstream countries (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and the downstream nations (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) have created a “perfect storm” of pressing water insecurity. The 2021 Central Asia drought, the loss of the Aral Sea, the evaporation of glaciers in the Tian Shan mountains, and the alarming shrinking of the Caspian Sea are reminders of how natural and man-made disasters have destructive consequences on Central Asia’s strained water resources.

This report addresses the status of water security across the five Central Asian countries, outlining recent developments, ongoing challenges, and opportunities for improvement. Geopolitically, interstate tensions and the role of international politics—e.g., influence from the West, Russia, and China and tensions with Afghanistan—all will continue to affect the region’s water security. This report will address international cooperation in projects for water sharing, including the current and future role of agencies like the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and partners like the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and extraregional governments. The report concludes with a holistic set of policy recommendations to help improve water security in Central Asia.

 

Event: "Report launch: Water insecurity in Central Asia"

7 February 2025

Atlantic Council

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/report-launch-water-insecurity-in-central-asia/ 

 

CIMSEC: "BRACOLPER at 50: A Model Multinational Riverine Exercise"

 

"BRACOLPER at 50: A Model Multinational Riverine Exercise"

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez

The Southern Tide

Center for International Maritime Security

10 December, 2024

Originally published: https://cimsec.org/bracolper-at-50-a-model-multinational-riverine-exercise/

Written by Wilder Alejandro Sanchez, The Southern Tide addresses maritime security issues throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. It discusses the challenges regional navies face including limited defense budgets, inter-state tensions, and transnational crimes. It also examines how these challenges influence current and future defense strategies, platform acquisitions, and relations with global powers.

Multinational naval exercises occur frequently across the globe. They are effective confidence-building mechanisms that promote integration, cooperation, and trust while improving the participating personnel’s capabilities and expertise. The most prominent naval exercises in the Western Hemisphere are the US-sponsored UNITAS, SOLIDAREX, and TRADEWINDS.

However, naval exercises do not solely occur at sea but also occur in inland bodies of water. Enter the multinational riverine exercise BRACOLPER, which, as the name suggests, brings together the navies from Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.

Geopolitical Monitor: "Kazakhstan Aims to Protect the Blue while Going Green"

 

"Kazakhstan Aims to Protect the Blue while Going Green"

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez

Situation Report

Geopolitical Monitor

14 September 2023

Originally published: https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/kazakhstan-aims-to-protect-the-blue-while-going-green/

Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave a speech on 1 September focusing on economic issues and domestic development. Some key energy and environmental issues were discussed that are particularly noteworthy, given the globe’s climate and environmental challenges: Astana will focus more heavily on protecting the country’s water resources, which has an unavoidable foreign policy component. Moreover, the Kazakhstani government aims to turn to green energy and is similarly considering nuclear power.

Continue reading... 

International Policy Digest: "Can the Caspian Sea and Ural River be Saved?"

 

"Can the Caspian Sea and Ural River be Saved?"

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez

International Policy Digest

27 January, 2023

Originally published: https://intpolicydigest.org/can-the-caspian-sea-and-ural-river-be-saved/

The Caspian Sea is Kazakhstan’s connection to the Caucasus and Europe. Thus, its protection is paramount to the country’s economic health, not to mention its fishing industry and overall environment. As Kazakhstan seeks to go “green” and become carbon neutral by 2060, its environmental policies must also evolve. This evolution needs to include bilateral cooperation, as working together with Russia over the Ural River is necessary to keep the Caspian Sea safe.

A landlocked nation, Kazakhstan has three key water bodies: the Aral Sea, Lake Balkhash, and the Caspian Sea (which is fed by the Ural River). Two of these bodies are already at risk; the country of 19 million cannot afford to also lose the Caspian.

Continue reading... 

CIMSEC: "Hospital Ships: A Vital Asset for SOUTHCOM and South American Navies"

 

"Hospital Ships: A Vital Asset for SOUTHCOM and South American Navies"

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez

The Southern Tide

Center for International Maritime Security

24 January 2023

Originally published: https://cimsec.org/hospital-ships-a-vital-asset-for-southcom-and-south-american-navies/

The hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) has returned to Latin American waters, as the vessel carried out a medical assistance mission across the Caribbean from October to December 2022. This is the first time in years Comfort has been in the region since the pandemic begun. Other South American navies also have hospital vessels that carry out similar missions, primarily for their domestic populations. Hospital ships are some of the region’s most vital yet underappreciated assets, while also being one of the most tangible elements of how many regional populations interact with navies. The U.S. and regional countries should consider the benefits of hospital ship operations with a view toward potentially investing in more of these valuable vessels.

Continue reading...

CIMSEC: Naval Operations Across South American Rivers: The “Other” Theater of Operations

 

"Naval Operations Across South American Rivers: The “Other” Theater of Operations"

Wilder Alejandro Sanchez

The Southern Tide

Center for International Maritime Security

29 September

Originally published: https://cimsec.org/naval-operations-across-south-american-rivers-the-other-theater-of-operations/

When thinking about navies, there is a natural tendency to focus on operations in the open sea and the role of carriers, frigates, and submarines. However, aside from protecting their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, South American navies have another equally important theater of operation: inland water bodies like lakes and rivers.

The recently concluded riverine exercises ACRUX X and BRACOLPER and even last year’s UNITAS 2021 demonstrate the importance that regional navies place on inland bodies of water and riverine populations. Activities carried out by local navies, not to mention other armed services, including defense/security operations, combating crimes (illegal mining and smuggling are significant problems in the region), search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief operations. In South America, the armed forces help extend the reach of the state to areas where civilian agencies do not operate; navies utilize rivers as a system of complex highways via which they can move and operate just as efficiently as in the open sea.

Continue reading...