As the literature on international water negotiations continues to grow, one resource of expertise remains untapped -that of indigenous populations who have historically inhabited arid regions throughout the world. This article investigates how indigenous peoples of two drylands regions -the Berbers of the High Atlas Mountains and the Bedouin of the Negev Desert -approach negotiations brought about by water scarcity and fluctuation, and their methods are described in the context of current international hydropolitics. Lessons learned from these indigenous methods for conflict resolution which are applicable to modern problems include the following: 1) Allocate time, not water. Berber water management quantifies water in units of time rather than in units of volume. This method allows for local management of a fluctuating supply, and provides a means for a water market without storage structures. 2) Prioritize different demand sectors. Berbers and Bedouin prioritize demand differently, but each provides a hierarchy of importance. This allows for less important uses to be cut off throughout a valley during low flow regimes, rather than entire down-stream villages, and protects investments in infrastructure. 3) Protect downstream and minority rights. Berbers allow only traditional diversion structures which, through their "inefficiency," allow for flow to continue downstream, while Bedouin concepts of equity address honor and pride, as well as right and wrong. 4) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Each group has sophisticated mechanisms of dispute resolution, from which modern international management might benefit. Techniques include recognition of a defined water authority, and "shared vision" exercises. 5) The "sulha." Both Berbers and Bedouin follow this Islamic practice of a ritual ceremony of forgiveness. Once the ceremony is performed, the dispute may not be discussed -it is as if it never occurred.
Informed consent is at the center of the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Consistent with the idea of a negotiation "formula," it encapsulates the principles underlying parties' demands by balancing the efficiency of unconstrained trade with ethically charged support for autonomy and selfdetermination. As a negotiated rule, informed consent translates the formula into specific procedural requirements based on risk assessment. Parties' fundamental interest to enhance food security via the two treaties is used to illustrate both the principle and rule aspects of informed consent. In addition, the value of formula analysis in negotiation theory is investigated. The article supports increased attention to informed consent in international relations, to the merits of formula analysis, and to the possibility of better understanding a fundamental objective such as food security through a formula-guided analysis of these and related negotiated outcomes.
The concept of national security and the process by which it is negotiated has changed. No longer is security synonymous only with the physical well-being of the state; it is now associated with achieving safety from transboundary threats related to the environment, the economy, human rights, and access to food and resources, for example. This transformation of security from a primarily traditional military dimension to a multidimensional range of interests is accompanied by changes in the way these issues are negotiated among states. This article offers a framework and propositions that can help explain the differences. This thematic issue of International Negotiation on non-traditional security negotiation provides detailed cases and analyses that demonstrate and contrast how the negotiation process performs in resource, economic, food, and military security talks.
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