Natural Resources and Violent Conflicts: Water and Energy in Kyrgyzstan

Water since 1991 has been at the centre of competition and controversy among the downstream countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) and the upstream countries (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). In recent years, increasing competition for water at an alarming rate only added to an already uneasy tension. While the downstream countries require more water for their agriculture and domestic needs, the impoverished upstream countries are attempting resource nationalism to accrue benefits using the precious waters. In the context of this milieu, this article attempts to examine the connection between resourcefulness and interstate and intrastate conflict in Central Asia and particularly in Kyrgyzstan.