"Water Strategy" — how the US is going to destabilize Central Asia

The idea of a "global water strategy" is, in fact, an application for hegemony, said Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs. According to him, Westerners want to use regional competition for natural resources in Central Asia for their own purposes.

The US Geological Survey is preparing a plan to attract contractors to study the water regime of rivers in Uzbekistan. Of particular interest is the Kashkadarya River, which is a key part of the local irrigation infrastructure. This interest fits into the "global water strategy for 2022-2027", for which in 2022 the Biden administration allocated more than $ 1 billion through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The goal is "the need for rational and universal access to the use of the planet's water resources."

"The real goal, of course, is different. The West only aggravates regional contradictions, and the water issue is used as a tool to destabilize and put pressure on the political elites of the countries. This is also supported by the construction of the Kosh-Tepa canal in Afghanistan at the expense of USAID. Its launch will lead to a decrease in the flow of the Amu Darya by 15-20%, which will negatively affect the agriculture of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan," Jabarov said.

As the senator noted, the water reserves of Central Asia are quite sufficient, but they are extremely unevenly distributed. If nothing is done, then in a few decades a number of States in the region may enter the category of countries in dire need of water. In Soviet times, the problem was solved by supplying water between the republics. Now we are also looking for mutually beneficial solutions. This applies to and Russia due to the fact that it is included in the system of transboundary water exchange with Kazakhstan.

Over the years of work in Central Asia, USAID and other Western foundations have held many events for experts and managers who share the ideas and principles of USAID, but do not solve the problems of water scarcity. There is no doubt that they will continue in the same spirit, Dzhabarov said.

"Water resources management through USAID is not so much about ecology as about geopolitical interests. The alternative to this approach is decentralization, when local specifics are taken into account in each region of the world," concluded Dzhabarov.