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A Discourse Analysis of Iranian-Afghan Relations in the Helmand River Basin

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A Discourse Analysis of Iranian-Afghan Relations in the Helmand River Basin THE SECURITIZATION OF TRANSBOUNDARY WATER RESOURCES: A Discourse Analysis of Iranian-Afghan Relations in the Helmand River Basin By Ashley M. Lane Advisor: Dr. Mark Giordano Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Honors in Science, Technology, and International Affairs, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Spring 2020 1 Abstract Over the past few decades, Iran has been facing an increasingly severe water crisis. The Helmand River Basin, which stretches from southwestern Afghanistan to eastern Iran, has been the site of an on-and-off dispute between the two countries for nearly a century, but it has become more salient recently against the backdrop of Iran’s water crisis and Afghanistan’s dam construction upstream. While the literature suggests that transboundary water resources in the Helmand River Basin have been politicized and even securitized on the Iranian side, no study has examined how Iranian government officials have framed water as a political and security issue. This study responds to this gap by analyzing 136 Persian-language news articles from 2014 to 2019 that contained statements by Iranian officials related to the Helmand River Basin, identifying the themes and discursive mechanisms behind the politicization and securitization of this issue. Based on securitization theory, 25 percent of these articles contained a securitizing move, 88 percent of which were made by local officials and Members of Parliament. This demonstrates that securitization was largely a localized phenomenon and reflects the broader internal tensions over the framing of water relations with Afghanistan among Iranian officials. Another key theme throughout the discourse was the link between human and environmental systems, with the importance of transboundary water resources being established through their connection to society. This study proposes that spatial scale, water scarcity, and socio-political context are important factors shaping securitization in the Helmand River Basin. 2 Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 4 Notes ................................................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 6 Background .................................................................................................................................. 12 Iranian-Afghan Relations: Iran’s Foreign Policy and Key Issues at Stake ................................... 12 Iran’s Water Crisis ....................................................................................................................... 14 Water in Afghanistan: A Major Component of Development and Stability ................................. 16 The Helmand River Basin ............................................................................................................. 18 Figure 1: Map of the Helmand River Basin ....................................................................................................... 19 Figure 2: Map of Sistan and Baluchestan Province Counties ............................................................................ 21 Historical Context and the Helmand River Treaty ....................................................................... 21 Iranian-Afghan Dialogue and Interactions on the Helmand River ............................................... 22 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 25 Conceptual Debates in Water Security: Securitization vs. Human Security ................................ 25 Securitization Theory: Approaches and Limitations in the Environmental Sector ...................... 26 Securitization of Transboundary Water Resources: Theory and Applications ............................ 28 Hydropolitics and the Framework of Hydro-Hegemony .............................................................. 30 Gaps and Contributions to the Literature .................................................................................... 32 Theory & Methodology ............................................................................................................... 35 Theoretical Foundation: Securitization Theory ............................................................................ 35 Discourse Theory .......................................................................................................................... 36 Data Collection .............................................................................................................................. 37 Table 1: Data Collection Breakdown ................................................................................................................. 39 Discourse Analysis: Thematic Codes and Securitizing Moves ...................................................... 40 Table 2: Thematic Codes ................................................................................................................................... 40 Table 3: Securitizing Move Codes – from Nathan and Fischhendler (2015) ..................................................... 42 Results & Discussion ................................................................................................................... 43 Table 4: Thematic Code Article Count .............................................................................................................. 43 A. Main Actors and Internal Tensions .......................................................................................... 46 Table 5: Descriptor Counts by Type of Government Official............................................................................ 46 B. Dominant Story Lines ............................................................................................................... 51 Dominant Story-Line 1: Environmental ........................................................................................................ 51 Dominant Story-Line 2: Legal ........................................................................................................................ 60 3 C. Key Thematic Codes and Perspectives ..................................................................................... 63 Water Management ......................................................................................................................................... 63 Dam-Building ................................................................................................................................................... 66 D. Securitizing Moves .................................................................................................................... 71 The Referent Object as Socio-Environmental ............................................................................................... 73 Existential Verbs and the Point of No Return: Environmental Destruction, Health, and Migration ...... 75 The Way Out: Water Rights, Diplomacy, and Water Transfer .................................................................. 80 Conclusion: Securitizing Moves ...................................................................................................................... 84 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 86 Link Between Human and Environmental Systems ...................................................................... 86 Frame of Reference: The Helmand River Treaty and Water Rights ............................................ 87 Securitizing Moves: Discursive Structure and Spatial Scale ......................................................... 87 Internal Tensions: Struggle for Discursive Hegemony ................................................................. 88 Importance of Context to Securitization ....................................................................................... 89 Limitations and Areas for Future Research ................................................................................. 90 References .................................................................................................................................... 92 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank first and foremost my thesis advisor, Mark Giordano, for his continual support and feedback throughout this process. Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me from my very first day as a freshman in your Water proseminar until now. This thesis would not have come into fruition without you. I also want to thank the STIA Honors Program coordinator, Emily Mendenhall, for her dedication to this program and support and feedback over the last year. Thank you to all of my peers in the STIA Honors Program as well – I am continually inspired by each of you and the incredible work you are doing. Thank you to all of the Persian professors that I have had over the past four years, and above all, Farima Sadigh Mostowfi. You introduced me to a new language, and with
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