Water wars: fact or fiction?

It is often said that future wars will be fought over water, not oil. These water wars are predicted to take place over the sharing of international r ivers. Recently, the world has witnessed several inter-state river-sharing disputes, but almost all of them have not crossed the critical threshold of becoming violent. Rather, most of these river disputes are being addressed through bilateral riparian cooperative arrangements. These agreements are primarily coming up on the rivers, which have potential for further water e xploitation. However, to find a lasting solution and to strengthen the rive r sharing arrangements, this article argues for the water issue to be addre ssed comprehensively in the basin, by taking into account both the demand a s well as the supply side of the scarce resource. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.