Explaining the Hydropolitical Relations of the Kura-Aras Basin Countries

Over the past few decades, emerging environmental threats arising from population growth, the expansion of urbanization, and climate change has led to an increasing threat to water resources on a subnational to transnational scale. The threat to the survival of ecosystems and human societies due to water scarcity, especially in low rainfall areas, has played an effective role in strengthening the aspects of cooperation in hydropolitical relations. The relative power of the countries located in a common basin is one of the reasons of hydro-hegemony, and its most severe form occurs when the country upstream of the basin is the most powerful country or spatial political unit of the basin. The present study aimed at the hydropolitical relations of the countries of the Kura-Aras basins, the inputs of which were conducted using the foundation data method (Grounded Theory) and by conducting semi-structured interviews, and therefore, the question is what are the hydropolitical relations of the countries of the Kura-Aras basin? The results of 30 interviews showed that the most important factors influencing the hydropolitical relations of the countries of this basin are Turkey's dam constructions, river pollution by Armenia, the unclear legal regime of the Aras-Kura River, the economic development plans of the countries of the catchment, weakness management of water resources in the catchment basin and its consequences, threats to food security and agriculture, threats to human health, migration, drying up of the fertile plains of the region, especially Moghan due to pollution, destruction of Arsbaren forests, threats to Iran's national security in the north-west of the country, and the future conflict and tension among the countries of the catchment and the reduction of river water quality.