Project Syndicate: Managing the Politics of Water
Prince El Hassan bin Talal, founder and chair of the Arab Thought Forum and the West Asia-North Africa Forum and distinguished member of the Global High Level Panel on Water and Peace, and Sundeep Waslekar, president of Strategic Foresight Group

“…The international community should encourage countries to embrace [transboundary] cooperation by creating financial instruments that make concessional and preferential funds available [to protect shared river basins]. … Likewise, the international community should act promptly to save critical water infrastructure from acts of violence and terrorism. … The U.N. should consider creating special peacekeeping forces to protect them. … Finally, international law should be designed to prevent, not just resolve, conflicts. In particular, a robust global treaty is needed to regulate emissions into bodies of water. … In the future, conflicts will increasingly be about water quality, as irrigation practices, industrialization, and urbanization contribute to rising pollution levels. World Water Day is the ideal occasion to launch a new agenda for water wisdom…” (3/17).