Can Water Negotiations Point The Way To Peace?

This time we explore the question, will managing the world's overtaxed water supply lead to more conflict or actually be a compelling catalyst to peace? The fact is that, so far, cooperation rather than conflict over water is the norm around the world. That's according to Oregon State University Professor Aaron Wolf, co-author of the book Managing and Transforming Water Conflicts, who's been facilitating solutions to water conflicts for years and sees many lessons in peacemaking emerging from the experience. “Water hits us at a profoundly different level than other resources,” he says. “People are willing to do horrible things to each other. What they seem not willing to do is turn off each other’s water.” Host Carol Boss talks with Aaron Wolf on this edition of Peace Talks Radio Also, a chat with Matt and Christina Berlin who took some Oakland school kids to Kenya for a horizons-expanding experience, then got deeply involved in the effort to help a rural Kenyan community purify it's dangerous water supply. The two talk about their up close experience with water's role in improving the health and dignity of a community and making it less susceptible to conflict.