Double-Edged Hydropolitics on the Nile - Center for Security Studies ...

Concluding Remarks
this complexity, the relative weight of different domestic determinants of
the national win-sets could only be assessed qualitatively on the basis of
the chosen methodology.
Another area that remains largely unaddressed in this study concerns the
highest level of national policy-making, i.e., the personal policy preferences
and networks of heads of states, ministers, and other powerful individuals, in
the context of both domestic policy decisions and international negotiations.
A better insight into the policy processes at the highest level would certainly
yield a more accurate picture of decision-making patterns governing domestic
water policy processes and transboundary cooperation in the Nile Basin.
8.4 Suggestions for further research
The scientific understanding of the complex processes leading to transboundary
cooperation can be deepened through further-reaching theory-based
and comparative investigations at the interface between domestic and international
water policy making.
The relative effects of different domestic constraints on the size of the
win-sets and the course of transboundary relations deserve closer attention.
A comparative analysis of different river basin case studies could improve
the specific insights as to the domestic factors that most affect the success
and the specific focus of transboundary river management regimes. Such
an analysis, however, will have to deal with the considerable variation of the
specific water management challenges in different river basins. Moreover, the
long time span of transboundary regime formation processes complicates
the direct comparison of river basins at different stages of negotiation and
implementation of transboundary agreements.
Data for a comparative analysis could be drawn from existing databases
(for the status of international cooperation and the specific focus of
transboundary agreements) and from existing or new river basin and /or
country case studies (for domestic-level policy processes and the effectiveness
of transboundary cooperation on the ground). The information
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