Water is often taken for granted, if you’re lucky enough to have it coming out of taps. Yet it lies at the heart of national security. … I’m an academic specialist in the field of trans-boundary rivers and national security. This field of research studies the clash between the legal concept of sovereign equality (that all countries are equal under international law), and rights associated with river flows and border demarcations. Disputes over rivers, from the Chobe and Orange rivers in southern Africa to the Nile in the north, show that being able to access water and control water sources can determine social stability, migration, investment and even international relations.