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Copyright of Kafkas University, Journal of Economics & Administrative Sciences Faculty / Kafkas Üniversitesi Iktisadi ve Idari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of University of Kafkas, Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Water is a power source, and its lack is an important and strategic issue that affects the social and economic development of societies and thus threatens their political authority. Lack of water in international rivers causes its politicization and, as a result, water tensions. Helmand River is one of the international rivers whose division has led to hydro-political tension. Helmand River, most of which is located in Afghanistan, is the main water supplier of Sistan region in Iran. The main goal of this research is to evaluate the hydro political analysis of the Helmand River by examining the changes in the use of the river catchment in three classes of water, vegetation, and soil using the virtual engine of satellite image processing (Google Earth Engine). The Kappa coefficient and Overall Accuracy were exerted to validate the research data. The results show that measures such as building new dams and closing old dams, neglecting bilateral agreements and not respecting Iran's water rights by the upstream country due to the unfavorable environmental conditions prevailing in the region have aggravated the water tension in the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water challenge in the Middle East has caused governments to face new problems in which they have to consider more control, management, and care regarding their water resources to survive. Due to growing water consumption by upstream countries of the border rivers in exploiting the resources, we will observe an increase in hydro-political disputes among the nations. Helmand is a river that flows into Iran and includes a hydro-political aspect. It has always influenced the relations between the two countries since the border formation. The fluctuation of the Helmand water flow and decrease in the running water towards Sistan (Iran) in the last hundred years has always created problems in relations between Iran and Afghanistan at the National and local levels. In the past years, Afghanistan has consumed a significant part of the water by creating a dam, reducing the amount of water flowing into Iran. On the other side, morphological changes of the river, such as the dispute on specifying the border exactly in the changeable river bed, dispute from the instability of water rights distribution pattern between the two countries, and finally, the dispute from specifying the extent and territory of the border area has led to ecosystem instabilities. In this regard, the strategy to control the ecosystem instabilities is environment diplomacy, and if it is synchronized with defensive diplomacy, it causes stability. With this description, we will examine the Helmand peripheral issues and the course of diplomacy in this field.

In the Helmand/Sistan basin in south-west Afghanistan, aeolian sediment movement impacts the environment, irrigation canals, agriculture, and fluvial systems. The migration of large sand dunes into the Helmand and Arghandab rivers has a significant impact on the water resources providing livelihood for over three million people. A first step toward mitigating these impacts is to better understand sand dune migration. In this study, dune celerity and flux into the fluvial system are measured using PlanetScope Visual Ortho Scene satellite imagery. Two different time periods were used to quantify flux in five study sites of dune fields along 100 km of the Helmand River and 150 km of the Arghandab and Dori rivers. Results show diverse sand dune celerities with the fastest barchan dune movement south of Zaranj city. Sand dune celerity on the Helmand River right bank in the direction of flow is estimated to vary between 6.2 m/year to 103.1 m/year. The highest unit flux values of 250 m3/m/year occur in the lower Helmand basin. Much lower dune celerity values between 0.2 m/year to 2.9 m/year are calculated for the dune field on the left bank of the Arghandab and Dori rivers. The study also identifies the sensitive locations on the right bank of Helmand River in lower Helmand that may be used to plan sand dune stabilization measures such as mulching and Haloxylon species plantation that have been extensively practiced in the region.

Water resources are the most contentious, scarce, and contestable natural resources at any geographical scale. Where water resources cross international boundaries, additional uncertainties arise for access to and distribution of available water. Here, we examined three transnational water partnerships by focusing on Iran as a dryland country with a developing economy. Thus, Iran has a key interest in water policies and the development and governance of water resources. Within Iran's regional context, we considered whether the country obtained a geopolitical advantage from three regional water partnerships, involving the Caspian Sea, the Helmand River, and the export of hydroelectricity. We used a global database and several years of Iranian newspaper articles to explore possible linkages between contemporary and historical challenges while looking at international laws and conventions. We highlighted (a) the transboundary Helmand River as the most unstable partnership; (b) the complexities of the relationships between the Caspian Sea's beneficiaries, including Iran, in utilising its vast resources in an environment with unclear rules; and (c) the rainfall- and geopolitically dependent hydroelectricity exchange agreements with neighbouring countries. Although Iran pursued such international involvement through treaties and economic initiatives, its water-based geopolitical influence in the region remains constrained by domestic demand, hydrometeorological geography, and the involvement of major world powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a long-standing dispute between Iran and Afghanistan over the Helmand River. In recent years, between 2002 and 2013, the access to water of the population living in the river basin in Iran has been adversely affected. As the human right to water is recognized at the international level, this paper aims to study the national implementation of the human right to water in both countries. It analyzes Afghanistan’s and Iran’s legislation, regulation, adopted strategies and policies at the national level. It further assesses if there is an extraterritorial obligation for both countries to respect, protect, and fulfill the human right to water. Finally, it to proposes solutions that would contribute to the fulfillment of the human right to water.

There is a long-standing dispute between Iran and Afghanistan over the Helmand River. In recent years, between 2002 and 2013, the access to water of the population living in the river basin in Iran has been adversely affected. As the human right to water is recognized at the international level, this paper aims to study the national implementation of the human right to water in both countries. It analyzes Afghanistan's and Iran's legislation, regulation, adopted strategies and policies at the national level. It further assesses if there is an extraterritorial obligation for both countries to respect, protect, and fulfill the human right to water. Finally, it to proposes solutions that would contribute to the fulfillment of the human right to water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of water in peacebuilding, cooperation and confidence building in the early phases of counterinsurgency operations in Helmand Province from Summer 2009 to Autumn 2010. For post-conflict Helmand to achieve security, it needs water to stabilize population movement, support a change from poppy cultivation to other crops, ensure food security, support public health and generate electricity. However, officials lack critical information that they need to make informed decisions about water, while counterinsurgency efforts and assistance programmes have overlooked the lead role that water can play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Helmand River wetland represents the only fresh-water resource in southern Afghanistan and one of the least mapped water basins in the world. The relatively narrow wetland consists of mostly marshes surrounded by dry lands. In this study, we demonstrate the use of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) Interferometric SAR (InSAR) to detect the changes of the Helmand River wetland water level. InSAR images are combined with the geocentric water level measurements from the retracked high-rate (18-Hz) Environmental Satellite (Envisat) radar altimetry to construct absolute water level changes over the marshes. It is demonstrated that the integration of the altimeter and InSAR can provide spatio-temporal measurements of water level variation over the Helmand River marshes where in situ measurements are absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]