Water Security and Foreign Policy Topic of Public Affairs Alumni Lecture at Washington College

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Water security and cooperation in global and local conflicts will be the topic of a talk by Ambika Vishwanath ’05, part of Washington College’s Goldstein Program in Public Affairs Young Alumni Program.

The talk on October 16, 2019 begins at 5:30 p.m. in Litrenta Lecture Hall of the Toll Science Center, and it is free and open to the public.

Vishwanath, co-founder and director of Kubernein Initiative, will examine how conflict over water resources is exacerbated by growing populations and unpredictable changes in the climate. However, Vishwanath argues that there have been more instances of cooperation than conflict over shared water resources. On occasion, countries have even used their water resources to forge ties leading to cooperation in other spheres as well.

Vishwanath’s lecture will focus on some of these positive examples from around the world and will examine how a nation’s domestic needs often plays a role in determining its transboundary water policy. Having travelled to many of these shared water basins, Vishwanath will bring personal anecdotes to discuss how cooperation is possible, and what other troubled regions and hotspots may learn from these examples.

Kubernein Initiative is an India-based geopolitical advisory that aims to bridge the gap on issues that require greater intellectual questioning and curiosity. Vishwanath has lead track two diplomacy efforts and consulted with several governments and international organizations, in India and around the world, at the intersection between transboundary water security and foreign policy. She also works in emerging concepts of Asian multilateralism and creating a better understanding of the rapidly changing landscape of India.

She has been published in several global newspapers, blogs, and journals and is a member of the Munich Young Leaders of the Munich Security Conference, Germany. She has a masters degree from the American University of Cairo, Egypt, and is a member of the Class of 2005, Washington College.

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