Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy

The executive summary outlines how water-driven stresses—caused by both human mismanagement and climate change—undermine governance and livelihoods, leading to migration, conflict, and the rise of insurgencies, which in turn destabilize U.S. foreign interests.

• Ecological changes, including the collapse of the Aral Sea and the disappearance of Lake Chad and Lake Urmia, are driven primarily by human actions such as the depletion of aquifers by municipalities, mining companies, and farmers, though climate change accelerates these deficiencies.
• Water insecurity severely impacts human systems by eroding rural livelihoods, increasing food insecurity, and damaging critical infrastructure, such as hydroelectric plants and water filtration systems, particularly in Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, and Central America.
• Water-driven desperation is linked to increased migration from rural to urban areas and toward northern latitudes, as well as the rise of violent insurgencies and narcotics trade in regions including Central Asia, Central America, and Africa.
• Water scarcity increases the frequency and diversity of conflicts, ranging from local competition between agribusiness and communities to intensified transboundary tensions in the Greater Mekong Subregion, South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
• Water-related instability threatens U.S. interests by undermining the rule of law and government legitimacy in partner countries, creating vacuums that insurgencies exploit, and causing supply chain instability and commodity price shocks.
• The document recommends that the U.S. government strengthen partner countries' water governance, promote transboundary agreements, encourage private sector investment in water utilities, and establish a dedicated entity reporting to the assistant to the president for national security affairs.

APA

Reed, D., Weinthal, E., Hegazi, F. F., Witmer, L., Rosa, H., Cuschnir, A., Cosío, R. G. G., Stein, E., Marquez, L., King, M., Gleick, P., Michel, D., Hearns, G., Paisley, R., Sayed, A., Spangler, C. N., Usman, F., Tortajada, C., Saklani, U., ... Jeuland, M. (2017). Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/805/7xpgdyhlqo_EXEC_SUM.pdf

Chicago

Reed, David, Erika Weinthal, Farah F. Hegazi, Lesha Witmer, Herman Rosa, Ariel Cuschnir, Román Gómez González Cosío, et al. Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy. WWF International, 2017. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/805/7xpgdyhlqo_EXEC_SUM.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{reed2017water, author = {Reed, David and Weinthal, Erika and Hegazi, Farah F. and Witmer, Lesha and Rosa, Herman and Cuschnir, Ariel and Cosío, Román Gómez González and Stein, Eduardo and Marquez, Lilian and King, Marcus and Gleick, Peter and Michel, David and Hearns, Glen and Paisley, Richard and Sayed, Ali and Spangler, Chelsea N. and Usman, Faizan and Tortajada, Cecilia and Saklani, Udisha and Biswas, Asit K. and Schneider, Keith and Thapan, Arjun and De Souza, Roger-Mark and Coady, Patrick and Baietti, Aldo and Streeter, William and Jeuland, Marc}, title = {{Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/805/7xpgdyhlqo_EXEC_SUM.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }