Water is essential for human life and at the centre of political, economic and socio-cultural development. This Routledge Handbook on Water and Development offers a systematic, wide-ranging and state-of-the-art guide to the diverse links between water and development across the globe. It is organized into four parts: Part I explores the most significant theories and approaches to the relationship between water and development. Part II consists of carefully selected in-depth case-studies, revealing how water utilization and management are deeply intertwined with historical development paths and economic and socio-cultural structures. Part III analyses the role of governance in the management of water and development. Part IV covers the most urgent themes and issues pertaining to water and development in the contemporary world, ranging from climate change and water stress to agriculture and migration. The 32 chapters by leading experts are meant to stimulate researchers and students in a wide range of disciplines in the social and natural sciences, including Geography, Environmental Studies, Development Studies and Political Science. The Handbook will also be of great value to policymakers and practitioners.

The African continent is plagued by some of the most brutal and violent conflicts in the world. At the same time that warfare is changing, so has the state's capacity to provide security and political stability to its citizens. This book deals with the role of regional organizations in Africa's security. It focuses on three basic?yet often overlooked?questions: (1) the advantages and disadvantages of African regional and sub-regional organizations vis-?-vis other security mechanisms, (2) the official and unofficial reasons to intervene, and (3) whether security is actually protected by the peace activities carried out by the regional organizations.

The contributors to the book?all leading researchers in the field?systematically assess and compare the role of the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

This book was based on a special issue of African Security.

A new look at the European Union's role as a global actor, with special focus on the theme of interregionalism in its relations with key regions around the world: Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Central-Eastern Europe. This new collection clearly shows how, since the end of the Cold War, the European Union has gradually expanded its external relations and foreign policies and become a global actor in world politics. During the last decade interregionalism has become a key component of the EU's external relations and foreign policies. In fact, the EU has quickly become the hub of a large number of interregional arrangements with a number of regions around the world. Promoting regional and interregional relations not only justifies and enhances the EU's own existence and efficiency as a global 'player', the strategy also promotes the legitimacy and status of other regions, giving rise to a deepening of cross-cutting interregional relations in trade and economic relations, political dialogue, development cooperation, cultural relations and security cooperation. This book was previously published as a special issue of the leading Journal of European Integration.

Since the end of the Cold War the European Union has gradually expended its external relations and foreign policies and become a global actor in world politics. During the last decade interregionalism has become a key component of the EU's external relations and foreign policies. In fact, the EU has quickly become the hub of a large number of interregional arrangements with a number of regions around the world. Promoting regional and interregional relations not only justifies and enhances the EU's own existence and efficiency as a global 'actor', the strategy also promote the legitimacy and status of other regions, giving rise to a deepening of cross-cutting interregional relations in trade and economic relations, political dialogue, development cooperation, cultural relations and security cooperation. This collection analyses the EU's role in the world and as a global actor, with a particular focus on the origins, causes and strength (or absence) of interregionalism in the EU's external relations and foreign policies towards some of the most important regions around the world: Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Central-Eastern Europe. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.

The African continent is plagued by some of the most brutal and violent conflicts in the world. At the same time that warfare is changing, so has the state's capacity to provide security and political stability to its citizens. This book deals with the role of regional organizations in Africa's security. It focuses on three basic-yet often overlooked-questions: (1) the advantages and disadvantages of African regional and sub-regional organizations vis-a-vis other security mechanisms, (2) the official and unofficial reasons to intervene, and (3) whether security is actually protected by the peace activities carried out by the regional organizations. The contributors to the book-all leading researchers in the field-systematically assess and compare the role of the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This book was based on a special issue of African Security.

This collection complements and advances recent studies on regionalism in Africa and the implications that this has for the continent's development. The two case studies on cross-border micro-regionalism in the borderlands of Mali-Burkina Faso and Niger-Nigeria are part of the work of the West Africa Border Initiative (WABI). WABI is a research institute that looks at cross-border developments in West Africa, particularly at the convergence between political will and regionalization on the ground.Providing a challenge to the considerable number of state-centric, formalistic and not seldom overly idealistic studies in this field, the two cases show quite clearly that formal borders either essentially do not exist in the modern sense, being ignored by local populations and traders, or are strategically used by (often self-styled) representatives of the state to extract resources and rents. In either case, the Eurocentric notion of fixed boundaries and bordered delineations has little purchase in the West African Sahel.

The international system has been transformed by the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the decline of the Non-aligned Movement, and the rise of globalization. This volume explores one important feature of the new global politics -- the emerging role of regional systems of relations. While the European Union is the most advanced case, most other parts of the world display at least the beginnings of regional systems. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the book examines these processes from a comparative perspective. Focusing on all the major regions of the world, this book shows that regionalization is an unevenly developing, highly heterogeneous and multidimensional phenomenon. But in the search for a new basis for world order, it does constitute an interesting possibility. The contributors come from a range of disciplines. Each is an area specialist. Their thoughtful, up-to-date analyses examine eleven different regions that are coming into existence in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Strong comparative essays put the empirical material in the context of the diverse strands of new thinking in international studies that is emerging. The volume provides a useful text both for graduate and post-graduate students.