I recently had the chance to attend a public screening of the film Blue Gold: World Water Wars by Sam Bozzo, which is based upon the book of the same title written by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke. This film effectively opened my eyes to one of the future areas of global conflict, as countries battle over one of the most basic and shared natural resources in the global commons, water. As we are able to purchase bottled water on any block in Manhattan, drink tap water, and are fortunate to have indoor plumbing/proper sanitation we may forget how important the issue of water is in the world of development. If you disagree, just ask the 884 million people on earth who lack access to this precious resource or the family of the one child that dies every 20 seconds due to water related disease. Take a study break, watch this film, and learn for your self what the privatization of water, poor global water policy, and commodification of this vital resource is doing to our world. It could possibly save your life if the former vice president of the World Bank Ismail Serageldin's prediction that, “the next world war will be over water,” comes true or at least raise your awareness of a critical issue.
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