Coexistence of Conflict and Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin

This study provides an analysis of the changing relations between the post-Soviet Central Asian Republics over transboundary rivers in the Aral Sea Basin from the dissolution of the USSR until the Kyrgyz coup in 2010. It is argued that contrary to the prominent discourse in hydropolitics, riparian relations need to be analysed on a two-dimensional scale, whereby conflict and cooperation coexist and change in relation to one another over time. It is further argued that in order to understand this coexistence, securitisation theory from the Copenhagen School and Wendtian constructivism need to be synthesised. In this lens, the degree of coexisting cooperation and conflict change over time, depending on the meaning that is attached to the water, and how this is tied to the construction of national identity. This constructed meaning allows for water to become securitised, whereby the more securitised the water becomes, the more conflictive relations will be.