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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mohsen NagheebyORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
This paper introduces the concept of hydro-legal geopolitics to examine why states adopt, reject, or selectively engage with international water law—particularly the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention and the 1992 UNECE Water Convention. Situated within an anarchic global order, the paper argues that legal commitments are shaped less by normative ideals and more by geopolitical dynamics across four axes: power asymmetries, territorial positioning, scalar strategies, and the spatial practices of law. Through case studies of Afghanistan and Iran (Helmand River), Iraq's accession to global frameworks, and reflections on the UK and US, the analysis reveals how historical legacies, domestic politics, and sovereignty concerns mediate treaty behaviour. While international law offers standards like equitable use and no significant harm, its authority is often undermined by strategic calculations and legal instrumentalism. The paper concludes that the effectiveness of global water regimes depends not only on legal design but on their alignment with spatial and geopolitical realities.
Author(s): Nagheeby M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Political Geography
Year: 2026
Volume: 128
Print publication date: 01/06/2026
Online publication date: 03/04/2026
Acceptance date: 01/04/2026
Date deposited: 14/05/2026
ISSN (print): 0962-6298
ISSN (electronic): 1873-5096
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2026.103545
DOI: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2026.103545
Data Access Statement: No data was used for the research described in the article.
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