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Cooperation over transboundary environmental resources, water in particular, has been analyzed from various perspectives. Each study identifies the problems of cooperation differently and suggests different mechanisms to enhance it. Yet, the role of ambiguity, particularly significant in treaty design to resolve environmental disputes, has thus far been overlooked. Such a focus is warranted, since many international agreements regulating the use of natural resources are ambiguous in their schedule of resource delivery during crisis events or in their cost-sharing arrangements and may even include contradictory resource-allocation principles while remaining vague on how to settle the contradictions. This study aims to examine why, when, and how ambiguity is applied in agreements pertaining to natural resources, and water in particular. The Israeli—Jordanian peace agreement, which includes an annex on water-use regulation, is used as a case study. It was found that, under asymmetric power relations, when both sovereignty costs and uncertainty are high, several types of deliberate ambiguity were intentionally incorporated into the treaty. Some ambiguities allowed each side to present the treaty differently at home, thereby defusing domestic opposition, while others provided leeway to adjust the resource allocation during a future crisis without the need to renegotiate the treaty.

From 6 Aug to 10 Aug 2003, three institutes engaged in the study of how crises are managed -- the Crisis Management Research & Training (CRISMART) program located in the Swedish National Defence Coll, the Crisis Research Center at Leiden U, & the Transboundary Crisis Management Working Group at Syracuse U -- held a conference at the Minnowbrook Conference Center in the Adirondack Mountains. In Lessons from Crisis Research, Arjen Boin speaks about the new forms of crisis that are appearing on the horizon even as governments struggle with the existing ones. Modern crises that jump around between local, national, & international levels are clearly a challenge for national governments. Crisis is defined from two perspectives -- operationally & politically symbolically. Insights obtained from past research on crisis management are summarized. Crisis management research requires a multidisciplinary approach, its own professional associations & journals, & the creation of centers of excellence. In Crises as Ill-Structured Messes, Ian I. Mitroff, Murat C. Alpaslan, & Sandy E. Green contend that the field of crisis management has been impeded by its out-of-date views of the nature of crisis & the use of inappropriate research concepts. Definitions & inquiry systems need development. A systems model of crisis is presented to help in this regard. In Policy Advice as Crisis: A Political Redefinition of Crisis Management, Alexander Kouzmin & Alan M. G. Jarman review the works of four authors who have contributed to the field of policy advice on crisis management. This advice covers approaches from language/logic to forecasting/system feedback/analysis. Four advice types -- policy innovation, gatekeeping, guardianship, & gurus -- & their topics are described. 3 Figures, 132 References. M. Pflum

Water is the most precious and valuable natural resource in the Middle East and North Africa. It is vital for socioeconomic growth and sustainabilityof the environment. Theeditors present the latest research resultsrelated tothe current water situation,as well as its significance for the peaceful coexistence of the neighbouring countries.The book focusses on the following topics: water resources, water protection, water management and water as a source of conflict.With regard tothe protection of ground water and surface water in the respective areas,topicssuch asewage disposal and soil protection, as well as the transfer of environmental technology are also discussed. TOC:From the Contents: Water Resources: Natural Scarcity of Water Resources in the Semi-arid and Arid Middle East and its Economical Implications; The Jordan River; Hydrology and Management of Lake Kinneret Aimed at Water Quality Protection; The Water Crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean and its Relation to Global Warming; Water Resources, Protection and Management in Palestine.- Water Protection: Groundwater Vulnerability Mapping in the Arab Region; Intermittent Water Supply and Domestic Water Quality in the Middle East; Sewage Water Treatments and Reuse in Israel.- Water Management: Water Resources Management in Palestine; Ecosan - Introduction of Closed-Loop Approaches in Wastewater Management and Sanitation; Efficient Groundwater Management for Organizations with a Small Financial Budget.- Water as Source of Conflict: Water Conflict and Water Management in the Middle East; Syria and Turkey in Water Diplomacy; Water Issue among the Riparian States of Euphrates and Tigris Transboundary Rivers

2012 Summer. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Theorizing the relationship between sovereignty and nature has posed challenges to both scholars and activists. Some believe that sovereignty is a problematic institutional constraint that hampers the formulation of holistic solutions to ecological problems, while others contend that the norms, practices and institutions of sovereignty can be stretched in pursuit of ecological and social sustainability. Complicating this picture is the fact that the empirical contours of sovereignty have shifted of late, as the authority and control of the nation-state has been challenged by neoliberal globalization and the transboundary realities of many environmental challenges, creating a crisis of legitimacy that societal actors attempt to ameliorate in various ways. This dissertation begins from the observation that "nature" - the socially constructed ideal employed to capture the vast multiplicity of the non-human realm - is increasingly central to the process through which individuals, interest groups and social movements attempt to create more democratic, sustainable or ethical political communities and forms of governance. As environmental politics continue to gain traction within mainstream political discourses, environmentalists and non-environmentalists alike are inserting nature into struggles to reconfigure sovereignty toward a particular ecological and/or social ethos. In exploring this interaction, I ask: how do societal groups conceptualize and work to reconfigure the relationship between nature and sovereignty? And what are the social and ecological implications of the normative ideals that they attempt to institutionalize? In order to gain insight into these questions, I examine contemporary American debates over the environmental impacts of immigration. Discussions of the so-called "immigration problem" have been contentious for American greens, leading to significant division within environmentalist organizations, and surprising alliances with a variety of other societal interests. The individuals and organizations involved all attempt to challenge the status quo, but deploy vastly different conceptions of nature, political community and governance to do so. Turning to individuals and organizations who have taken public stances within this debate, I employ (1) textual analysis of websites and publications; (2) semi-structured interviews; and (3) content analysis, in considering the various discursive pathways through which environmental restrictionists and their opponents attempt to reconfigure sovereignty. Through this empirical analysis, I make the case that the discursive terrain on which the relationship between nature and sovereignty resides remains poorly understood - to the detriment of efforts to promote socially and ecologically inclusive polities.