Thread by @wolfejosh

1/ There is lots of news (serious or silly) competing for👀

A thing NOT front page news YET

is the arming of India 🇮🇳 by the US 🇺🇸
and of Pakistan 🇵🇰 by China 🇨🇳

ps India’s growing tension with its Muslims (200million—world’s 3rd largest muslim pop. + largest minority pop.)

2/ Adding to the tensions is WATER🚰 💦 🚽

In the 90s I equated “Free Tibet” with cool music 🎶(Beastie Boys, Tribe Called Quest, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bjork, De La Soul, Rage Against the Machine)—and a principled protest for religious freedom + the peaceful poise of Dalai Lama

3/ I was not at ALL thinking—while bands commodified my dissent + naive teenage angst—about the geopolitical long game of China securing Tibet’s water.

Control the WATER—control the WORLD

HALF (50%!) of the world’s population depends on RIVERS flowing from Tibetan Plateau…

4/ There’s over 1000 LAKES on Tibetan Plateau––the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) River (the 3rd longest after the Nile + Amazon) + Yellow River serve over 600M million people in China

Half of the water goes to––INDIA

But China’s infrastructure, dams, hydropower + pollution threaten it

5/ PAKISTAN, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan all have over 90% dependency on external water sources—making them extremely vulnerable.

CHINA has all the leverage over PAKISTAN…

6/ Regions where water is SCARCE are regions
where risk of China leverage + control is ABUNDANT

7/ China + India have dozens of territorial disputes—both are nuclear nations… aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/25…

8/ CHINA uses PAKISTAN to contain INDIA.

I have previously shared China’s control of Pakistan (its resources and its infrastructure) from the north (Xinjiang) thru the south to Gwadar…

https://twitter.com/wolfejosh/status/1473305552977645573

9/ The complex set of tensions across

GEOLOGICAL, GEOPOLITICAL, POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS

with proxy nations (US x China) battling over water, Hindu vs Islam, pollution, climate/water refugees fleeing dry + diverted watersheds

makes the region VERY VOLATILE and worthy of attention

10/
More important than KANYE + KIM
More important than escaping earth to go to MARS
More important than cancelling controversial speakers

is WATER

answer = NUCLEAR + DESAL

PS single-hulled tankers have been phased out (for oil)
but we may YET see WATER TANKERS in hi demand!