Central Asia strides forward on the dead Aral Sea
The Effect of International Influence in the Aral Sea Basin
The Aral Sea is dead. With one of the latest international initiatives planting trees on its dried surface, it begs the question what influence international actors have had in the decades attempting to resurrect the Central Asian waters.
After the collapse the Soviet Union, water management transformed from an inter-republic issue to a question of international cooperation among 5 newly fledged Central Asian riparian states (Weinthal, 2001). With numerous economic, political and social consequences resulting from the sea drying up, the Aral Sea is an infamous challenge to not only Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that share the coastline but also a challenge to the states along two rivers that feed into the Aral Sea. This includes Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan through which the Amu Darya flows and the Syr Darya river that flows through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.
Owing to the location and advantageous position provided by the distribution of water to certain countries over others, the political hurdles to resuscitate the rivers and Aral Sea are immense.
