Conflict and Cooperation along International Rivers: Crafting a Model of Institutional Effectiveness

Ramiro Berardo and Andrea K. Gerlak
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Ramiro Berardo: Ramiro Berardo is a Researcher with the Argentine National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET) and the Catholic University of Cordoba, Argentina. His recent publications include “Self-Organizing Policy Networks: Risk, Partner Selection and Cooperation in Estuaries,” American Journal of Political Science 54 (3), with John T. Scholz (2010); “Processing Complexity in Networks: A Study of Informal Collaboration and its Effect on Organizational Success,” Policy Studies Journal 37 (3) (2009); and “Generalized Trust in Multi-organizational Policy Arenas: Studying its Emergence from a Network Perspective,” Political Research Quarterly 62 (1) (2009).
Andrea K. Gerlak: Andrea K. Gerlak serves as the Director of Academic Development with the International Studies Association and Environmental Policy Faculty Associate with the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona. Her recent publications include Mapping the New World Order, co-edited with Thomas J. Volgy, Zlatko Šabibč, and Petra Roter (2009); “Hydrosolidarity and International Water Governance,” International Negotiation 14: 309–32 with Robert G. Varady, and Arin C. Haverland (2009); and “Today's Pragmatic Water Policy: Restoration, Collaboration, and Adaptive Management Along U.S. Rivers,” Society & Natural Resources 21 (6) (2008).

Global Environmental Politics, 2012, vol. 12, issue 1, 101-120

Abstract: The management of international rivers is increasingly marked by a heightened attention to and growth in institutions at the river-basin level to promote cooperation and resolve conflicts between states in a basin. Yet, little theoretical and empirical research exists to understand when these institutions are most effective. Here we draw from diverse literatures, including work on social and ecological systems, international institutions, common-pool resources, and international waters, to capture and integrate the design elements associated with effective collaborative management along an international river. We apply and test the validity of our model in a plausibility probe through the analysis of the conflict between Argentina and Uruguay over the construction of pulp mills along the Uruguay River, and the role of the established and functioning river basin organization—the Administrative Commission of the Uruguay River (CARU)—in this conflict. We re-examine our model based on our case findings to highlight the challenge and role of public input and representation in institutional effectiveness along international rivers. © 2012 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Date: 2012
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