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Adrian-Ioan DAMOC
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti
Ioan Alexandru GHERASIM
Corvinus University of Budapest
Water is an extremely important natural resource, with applications ranging from sustenance to hygiene, to agriculture, or energy. Central Asia, one of the world’s most interesting geostrategic areas known for its energy riches, is also known for having an asymmetrical distribution of fresh water supplies, with some countries benefitting from the rivers that provide them with water, and the rest of the countries in the region suffering from a shortage of it. As it happens, the countries that have greater control over the water resources in the region suffer instead from a lack of notable hydrocarbon resources, whereas the other countries possess some of the world’s largest reserves of oil and gas. This leads to a conflict among the Central Asian states, with the water-rich ones seeking to harness the local rivers in order to generate energy, while the states that lack water resources oppose these efforts. The present paper aims to analyse the interactions between two of the Central Asian states – Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – in the context of this water dispute, using game theory to determine potential outcomes. The results are thenceforth discussed and interpreted.

ŒCONOMICA no. 1-2/2018
Keywords: water conflict, geopolitics, game theory, Central Asia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
JEL: C71, C79
A Game Theory Perspective on the Central Asian Water Crisis