Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between water, security, and government. It explores the founding of America’s government, its roots in individual liberty, and the ratification of the Constitution as its chosen framework for governance. It investigates how Americans have struggled to reconcile the system of federalism set forth by the Constitution with political action. It surveys the advantages and disadvantages of federalism with regard to interstate water resource management. It discusses how interstate competition offers great opportunities for progress but may sometimes hinder cooperation. The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin provides a case study, exemplifying the challenges of interstate cooperation in the United States. The paper then shifts focus to analogous challenges of international water resource management. Adopting the Mekong River Basin as a case study, it illustrates how competing uses and conflicting cultures have made cooperation challenging in that region.