Hydropolitics and Human Security: Water Cooperation in Relations between Iran, Afghanistan andTurkmenistan

Countries adjacent to the Harirud (Hari River) basin (Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan) suffer from water shortages and simultaneous increasing populations and expanding needs in the agricultural and industrial sectors. These rising problems have illuminated the inefficiency of myopic attitudes and plans which have been implemented in the past years in order to overcome the troubles arising from drought in regional countries. Under such circumstances, expansion of regional cooperation on water questions necessitates the avoiding of realist attitudes to security and water and attention to these two issues within the framework of human security. This framework can lead to the expansion of water cooperation in the Harirud basin countries based on mutual interest of the regional people and meeting their reasonable needs within the region. On this basis, this article emphasizes the necessity of change in traditional attitudes to the question of water and security to prevent the transformation of water shortage to a source of dispute and conflict among regional nations. It also offers solutions for the expansion of water cooperation among Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in the Harirud basin and overcoming problems arising from water shortage in the region.