Hydro-politics in the Nile basin: in search of theory beyond realism and neo-liberalism

In response to runaway population growth in the Nile basin, the reality and perils of desertification and the frequent cycles of drought, human demand on Nile water resources has intensified in recent years. Nothing captures the enormity of the challenge more than the fact that the present combined 360 million population of the 10 Nile states is projected to reach 850 million in a generation or so. Because of this, the riparian states have formed the Nile Basin Initiative as an inter-state water regime, entrusted to fashion a framework for the allocation of Nile water resources among the co-basin states. The initiative has yet to take root however, precisely because the approach to the hydrographic problem is informed by conventional regional geopolitics and international development assistance.