Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Published in:
Introduction: Mixing Water and International Relations Theory Read chapter Read first chapter

2023 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

13. Transboundary Water Management Among Small Island Developing States: Dynamics of Conflict and Cooperation

Author : Máté Szalai

Published in: Theorizing Transboundary Waters in International Relations

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

The chapter focuses on the role and behavior of small island developing states in issues concerning transboundary water management. Seas and oceans play a crucial role in the politics, economic survival, well-being, and identity of such entities, all of which constitute incentives for cooperation. Despite this generally positive narrative surrounding the collaborative nature of small island developing states, the empirical investigation of key sectors, including fishery, energy and climate, and trade and maritime connectivity, leads to the conclusion that cooperation between such resource-scarce entities is severely limited by several factors. The chapter identifies over-institutionalization, lacking implementation and coordination, as well as political and economic competition between small island developing states as key phenomena in this regard.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
previous chapter The Upstream–Downstream Structural Disparity and Transboundary Challenges of Public Health
next chapter Conclusion: The Role of IR Theories in Transboundary Water Politics
Footnotes
1
One reason is that seas and oceans are not usually considered transboundary waters, even if the most traditional definition set up by the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes conceptualises transboundary waters as “any surface or ground waters which mark, cross, or are located on boundaries between two or more states”, which can arguably be applicable to seas and oceans. While it is true that the Convention itself does not focus on national and international maritime territories, the argument can be made that the title of the convention does not refer to transboundary waters in general but transboundary watercourses and international lakes in particular. Moreover, the logic regarding the role of transboundary waters as described by Kinga Szálkai (2016) can easily be applied to the case of seas and oceans.
 
2
According to the official UN framework, 38 out of its 193 member states are considered small island developing states, 19.6% of all members. The international organisation also recognises 20 additional non-UN member states as SIDS. Given that both the terms “small” and “developed” are debated in the literature, it is impossible to give a proper definition of SIDS, which is why international organisations and researchers tend to provide an exhaustive list of them instead.
 
3
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tomé and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
 
4
American Samoa, Anguilla, Aruba, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, Cook Islands, Curacao, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Guam, Martinique, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Niue, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands.
 
5
Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Dominican Republic, Timor-Leste, Cabo Verde, Solomon Islands, Cuba.
 
Literature
Alesina A, Enrico S (2005) The size of nations. MIT Press, Cambridge
Atteridge A, Savvidou G (2019) Development aid for energy in small island developing states. Energy, Sustain, Soc 9(10):1–10
Barrett K et al (2014) The debt experience of SIDS in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea. In: King D, Tennant DF (eds) Debt and development in small island developing states. Palgrave MacMillan, Cham, pp 91–134
Bueger C (2015) What is maritime security? Mar Policy 53(C):159–164
Chong A (2010) Small state soft power strategies: virtual enlargement in the cases of the Vatican City State and Singapore. Camb Rev Int Aff 23(3):383–405CrossRef
Darius R et al (2018) The fiscal consequences of natural disasters: does country size matter? In: Briguglio L (ed) Handbook of small states: economic, social, and environmental issues. Routledge, London-New York, pp 550–572CrossRef
Dornan M (2018) When international 'best practice' is not: power sector reform in small island states. In: Briguglio L (ed) Handbook of small states: economic, social, and environmental issues. Routledge, London-New York, pp 313–325.
East MA (1973) Size and foreign policy behavior: a test of two models. World Polit 25(4):556–576CrossRef
Fox AB (1959) The power of small states: diplomacy in World War II. University of Chicago Press, ChicagoCrossRef
Fugazza M, Hoffmann J (2017) Liner shipping connectivity as determinant of trade. J Shipp Trade 2(1):1–18CrossRef
Garai N et al (2017) A kisállamok lehetőségei és kihívásai a 21. században. In: Garai N, Koncz-Kiss J, Szalai M (eds) A kisállamok lehetőségei és kihívásai a 21. században. Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Budapest, pp 3–60
Guillotreau P et al (2012) Vulnerability of small island fishery economies to climate and institutional changes. Current Opinion in Environ Sustain 4(3):287–291CrossRef
Handel M (2006) Weak states in the international system. In: Ingebritsen C, Neumann IB, Gstöhl S, Beyer J (eds.), Small states in International Relations. University of Iceland Press, pp 149–153
Hey JAK (ed) (2003) Small states in world politics: explaining foreign policy behavior. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder
Honkonen T, Lipponen A (2018) Finland’s cooperation in managing transboundary waters and the UNECE principles for effective joint bodies: value for water diplomacy? J Hydrol 567(December):320–331CrossRef
Ingebritsen C (2006) Norm entrepreneurs: Scandinavia’s role in world politics. In: Ingebritsen C, Neumann IB, Gstöhl S, Beyer J (eds.), Small states in International Relations. University of Iceland Press, pp 273–286
Jordan L (2007) Interorganisational relationships in small twin-island developing states in the Caribbean—The role of the internal core-periphery model: the case of Trinidad and Tobago. Curr Issue Tour 10(1):1–32CrossRef
Katzenstein P (2003) Small states and small states revisited. New Polit Econ 8(1):9–30CrossRef
Keohane RO (2006) Lilliputians’ dilemmas: Small states in international politics. In: Ingebritsen C, Neumann IB, Gstöhl S, Beyer J (eds), Small states in International Relations. University of Iceland Press, pp 55–77
King D, Robinson M (2014) An agenda for debt sustainability in SIDS. In: King D, Tennant DF (eds) Dept and development in small island developing states. Palgrave MacMillan, Cham, pp 239–250
Koff H (2017) «Paz ambiental transfronteriza» como interacción de normas regionales y poder local: Lecciones desde análisis y debates transregionales sobre seguridad hídrica. Revista De Paz y Conflictos 9(2):19–42
Koff H et al (2020) Transboundary water diplomacy among small states: a giant dilemma for Central American regionalism. Water Inter 45(4):275–291CrossRef
Koff H, Maganda C (2015) Against the current: transboundary water management in small states on two continents. Water Inter 40(2):231–250CrossRef
Mackay S et al (2019) Overcoming barriers to climate change information management in small island developing states: lessons from Pacific SIDS. Clim 19(1):125–138CrossRef
McGillivray M et al (2010) Vulnerability, trade, financial flows and state failure in small island developing states. J Dev Stud 46(5):815–827CrossRef
McGowan PJ, Gottwald K (1975) Small state foreign policies: a comparative study of participation, conflict, and political and economic dependence in Black Africa. Int Stud Quart 19(4):469–500CrossRef
Moncada S et al (2018) Environmental economics: spacial considerations for small states. In: Briguglio L (ed) Handbook of small states: economic, social, and environmental issues. Routledge, London-New York, pp 493–516.
Moses JW (2000) OPEN states in the global economy: the political economy of small-state macroeconomic management. Palgrave Macmillan, BasingstokeCrossRef
Neumann IB, Gstöhl S (2006) Introduction. Lilliputians in Gulliver’s world? In: Ingebritsen C, Neumann IB, Gstöhl S, Beyer J (eds.), Small states in International Relations. University of Iceland Press, pp 3–39
Nyman E (2013) Island exceptionalism and international maritime conflicts. Prof Geogr 65(2):221–229CrossRef
Oguglo BF, Eugui DV (2018) Small island developing states and the ocean economy. In: Briguglio L (ed) Handbook of small states: economic, social, and environmental issues. Routledge, London-New York, pp 530–549CrossRef
Roberts JL (2018) Small island developing states and Sustainable Development Goals: curse or cure. In: Briguglio L (ed) Handbook of small states: economic, social, and environmental issues. Routledge, London-New York, pp 517–529CrossRef
Spencer A (2019) Travel and tourism in the Caribbean. Challenges and opportunities for small island developing states. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Spijkers J et al (2021) Identifying predictors of international fishery conflict. Fish Fish 22(4):834–850CrossRef
Stefano M et al (2018) Environmental economics: special considerations for small states. In: Briguglio L (ed) Handbook of small states: economic, social, and environmental issues. Routledge, London-New York, pp 493–516
Sutton P, Payne A (1993) Towards a security policy for small island and enclave developing states. The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 31(2):193–200CrossRef
Szálkai K (2016) A vízmegosztás kérdése a nemzetközi kapcsolatok elméletében: Vízügyi konfliktusok és együttműködések Közép-Ázsiában a XXI. század elején. Doctoral dissertation, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest.
Thürer D (1998) The perception of small states: myth and reality. In: Goetschel L (ed) Small states inside and outside the European Union: interests and policies. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 33–42CrossRef
Vital D (1967) The inequality of states: a study of the small power in International Relations. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Voyer M et al (2018) Maritime security and the blue economy: intersections and interdependences in the Indian Ocean. J Indian Ocean RegN 14(1):28–48CrossRef
Waite M (2012) Climate-change mitigation and adaptation in small island developing states: the case of rainwater harvesting in Jamaica. Sustain: Sci, Pract Policy 8(2):81–87
Metadata
Title
Transboundary Water Management Among Small Island Developing States: Dynamics of Conflict and Cooperation
Author
Máté Szalai
Copyright Year
2023
Book
Theorizing Transboundary Waters in International Relations

Print ISBN: 978-3-031-43375-7

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-43376-4

Copyright Year: 2023

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43376-4_13