TATUL MANASERYAN
threats to their economies , such as food security , demographic security ('' population aging '', '' brain drain '', mass migration , etc .), energy security , intellectual security and investment security , to name a few . COVID19 is another threat to be added to these that needs more careful consideration and comprehensive analysis . However , regional environmental security shall be given special attention here due to the need for cross-border cooperation and efficient steps to be taken by the nation-states .
Regional environmental security in the EAEU has certain delineations compared to other components of national security . 3 It is part and parcel of global and regional problems and may not be reached individually – that is , through the efforts of national governments . It is the will and ability of the government to cooperate with neighboring and other countries to reduce and eliminate risks associated with the environment and its protection to maintain , utilize , and develop a sufficient amount of resources for the present and for future generations . Water pollution , including shared rivers running from one country to another , lakes and seas are among the numerous examples that require extra attention and treatment . There are two main transboundary rivers in the Caucasus alone : the Kura and the Araks . Their basins spread over three Transcaucasian republics : Georgia , Armenia and Azerbaijan . The Kura is 1,515 km long and drains an area of 188,000 km . Its source is in Turkey and flows eastward , crossing Georgia and Azerbaijan . The Kura and its tributaries have a number of dams and barrages for hydroelectric and irrigation purposes . Part of the river is navigable . The Araks ( Aras ) is about 1,000 km long . Its source is in Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia , Armenia and Iran and , finally , between Iran and Azerbaijan . It joins the Kura River on the territory of Azerbaijan , 120 km from its mouth on the Caspian Sea , forming the Kura-Araks Delta . 4 Also worth noting is the Samur River , which
3 Elen Akopova , Assiya Nursapa and Ilyas Kuderin , Current environmental problems in
member states of the Eurasian Economic Union , Int Environ Agreements 18 ( 2018 ): 529 – 539
4
The classification of the Caspian is a complicated issue . For example , it is defined as an " inland sea ". See 2 NEB , supra note 2 , at 612 . The Food and Agriculture Organization ' s (" FAO ") Systematic Index also qualifies the Caspian Sea as an " inland sea ." See FAO , Systematic Index of International Water Resources Treaties , Declarations , Acts and Cases by Basin , in 2 LEGISLATIVE STUDY No . 34 , at 287 ( 1984 ). However , the Caspian Sea is notably included in the list of " Major Lakes of the World ." WATER IN CRISIS 161-65 ( P . H . Gleick Ed ., 1993 ) ( Table B . 10 ). One expert from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO has asserted that " from an oceanographic point of view ( composition of water , fauna , flora ) the Caspian Sea should be considered as a sea . In fact , the Caspian Sea is a relict marine basin ." See Minutes of the Meeting on 76