Suchergebnisse

Abstract Background Las Vegas has often been described as offering the paradox of wasting large amounts of water for the tourism industry, whereas it is located in an arid desert area. However, a closer examination shows that it is residential demand that is responsible for most of water use. Method This paper will rely on the analysis and comparison of the main water policy elements in several Western cities, with a special focus on Las Vegas. Results The city authorities embarked, in the late 1950s, in policies aimed at reducing a very large residential water demand. If the authorities have been successful, efficiency gains can certainly be achieved as per capita use remains high in the Las Vegas area, and tariffs low. Conclusion Political, sociological, legal and technical constraints weigh in to provide for a difficult equation to solve for water authorities. These difficulties might explain why the lure of massive water diversions is looming high again.

Fast-receding summer sea ice in the Arctic has been documented and making the headlines since 2007. The phenomenon, underlined by scientists and the media since about the turn of the century, has triggered speculation about the opening of much shorter sea routes linking Europe via the eastern North American coast to Asia. The prospect of growing shipping traffic in Arctic waters, especially through the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic archipelago, or through the northeast passage north of Russia, has fuelled rhetoric on the status of these Arctic routes and controversy over the pace of such shipping growth. Few analysts question the common belief that it is only a matter of time before new sea lanes will be operational in the Arctic. This prospect is at the very heart of the ongoing debate on security in the Canadian Arctic, for it raises the issue of control of such navigation, and therefore of Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Passage and the Canadian Arctic waters. It is this debate over control of navigation, often depicted as something bound to experience out-of-hand growth, that triggered the House of Commons to vote in favour of a highly debatable resolution in December 2009, renaming the Northwest Passage the Canadian Northwest Passage, a move unlikely to attract any sympathy elsewhere in the world. But how much truth is there in the widely accepted notion that melting sea ice, opening up Arctic channels in the summer, will lead to greatly increased sea traffic in the region? Shorter distances seem to be the main factor considered by commentators, but shipping companies take many other questions into account before their managers decide to develop Arctic shipping. Indeed, shipping companies are in no rush to develop what they perceive to be a risky and not necessarily profitable route. Adapted from the source document.

In a context marked by climate change and the accelerated melting of the ice shelf in summer, the media regularly refer to the power games that are presently emerging in the Artic. Some observers speak of a "battle for the far north", a new "Cold War", even a "mad scramble" among countries bordering the Artic Ocean to control its riches. Yet, beyond these catastrophic and ultimately unlikely scenarios, two questions today pit the five countries of the Artic against one another: that of the status of the North West and North East passages in the event of increased traffic and that of the extension of economic sovereignty to the continental shelf beyond the 200 maritime mile limit of exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Though they are often conflated in the media, these two questions are very different in terms both of the issues at stake and the shifting alliances to which they give rise in the region. Adapted from the source document.

Will the twentieth century be that of wars for fresh water? Growing scarcity & climate change make for an explosive mixture whose destabilizing effects are starting to make themselves felt in many different regions. Some analysts refuse to accept the idea of wars for water, maintaining that such conflicts are impossible; others judge them to be inevitable. In reality, if wars between states over water alone are less than probable, many internal tensions glow under society's ashes.

Consumption patterns of water in the western US are clearly not sustainable. Given the technology available today, massive water transfers could only come from Canada. There have been several mooted projects in this vein, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. Should the Canadians worry about water exports to the US, especially in the frame of NAFTA? Or is climate change going to be the decisive factor in this debate? This article explores how water is becoming a major political issue between the US and Canada. Adapted from the source document.

In the face of predicted water shortages & their rather over-hyped corollary -- twenty-first century wars over water resources -- the solutions of integrated management sometimes seem outweighed by the size of the difficulties to be overcome, if only because of the problems of putting into practice solutions which must be agreed between a number of countries with varied interests. Managing the needs of several countries, & often of several competing sectors in each one, on the scale of a catchment area, is no small undertaking, especially if there is a history of mistrust between the different governments. Modern civil engineering techniques prompt a fresh look at the possibility of diverting very large volumes of water originating far from centres of consumption over great distances. Adapted from the source document.

Outlines US geopolitical interests in Central Asia in context of military operations in Afghanistan, focusing on importance of oil reserves, considerably reduced Russian influence, and relations with China, Iran, India, and Pakistan.

1. Introduction : old problems and new paradigms in East-Asian maritime disputes / Barthelemy Courmont, Frederic Lassere and Eric Mottet -- 2. Maritime territorial disputes in East Asia : a comparative analysis of the South China Sea and the East China Sea / Andy Yee -- 3. Maritime conflict and cooperation in East Asia : recent developments and future prospects / Keyuan Zou -- 4. Legal and political aspects of the Dokdo issue : interrelationship between international law and international relations / Lee Chang-wee -- 5. "Takeshima," "Northern Territories" and the construction of Japan's national identity / Alexander Bukh -- 6. Crisscrossing law, politics and history : dilemmas in the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute / Katherine Tseng Hui-yi -- 7. Diplomacy and opportunism : Taiwan's position on the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute / Barthelemy Courmont -- 8. Maritime borders in the South China Sea : dynamics and legal basis / Frederic Lassere -- 9. Exploring maritime dispute management in the South China Sea : a practical approach / Nong Hong -- 10. Is accessing natural and strategical energy resources the real core of maritime disputes in Asia? / Eric Mottet -- 11. China's realpolitik approach to its territorial disputes : the case of the 2012 Scarborough Shoal stand-off / Renato Cruz De Castro -- 12. Economic drivers of Vietnam's South China Sea disputes with China / Le Hong Hiep -- Conclusion / Barthelemy Courmont, Frederic Lasserre and Eric Mottet.