by Russell H. Smith

Created on: May 26, 2008   Last Updated: March 05, 2011

An astute commentator recently opined: "Plant Earth should really be called Planet Water". It is a simple enough (albeit tongue-in-cheek) observation; in a not so simple world, facing complex Eco-challenges. None more so, than the scarcity of a resource that's symbolic of life itself - a freshwater crisis, threatening to ignite the much vaunted water wars. Yet media coverage and international public debate is as parched as the rivers themselves. And while the various "schools' of thought" argue about the legitimacy of global climate change, the window of opportunity closes on viably quenching the long-term thirst of countries like Ethiopia and Kenya.

Mainstream consciousness remains dangerously opaque on the politics of water.

Today, we are all too familiar with the insatiable appetite that nations-states have developed for oil, natural gas, coal and other resources that drive their economies and give quality of life. Water, and only water, sustains that life. We can't diversify away from it. And it's this basic fact, this seminal point that creates the potential for a flash-point: a water war.

Veiled threats and saber-rattling by water-stressed communities; often with freshwater resources just outside their borders or in disputed territory, is shaping as the new foreign policy quagmire. This from the Common Language Project; "In June 2006, open conflict erupted in the Borena zone in southern Ethiopia between the Borena and the Guji when the Guji laid claim to water-rich land that had long belonged to the Borena. Hundreds were killed and 23,000 people were forced to flee. Intermittent fighting has continued since then." (Waititu) The most violent water wars in Africa will take place today within rather than among nation-states.

But we cannot plead ignorance or claim surprise. Policymakers have long been privy to the consequences of inaction.

To be sure, the Johnston Plan: "A comprehensive plan drawn up by U.S. Special Ambassador Eric Johnston in 1953, for regional development of the Jordan River system. The hope was that it would reduce regional conflicts by promoting cooperation and economic stability." (Answers.com) Johnston foresaw ongoing conflict between Arabs and Israelis as not just about territorial-ism, but access to water. Decade's later Lebanon and Israel; already rife with conflict and instability, continue to rely on mediation (by the U.S., UN and EU) over access to the Hasbani River.

So if Adam's ale is a potential trigger for conflict in the

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