It is a universally held belief that surface water that crosses boundaries is prone to dispute. In the arid Middle East and North Africa, where water symbolizes communal security, the tendency is for water to be perceived as a prime factor in determining the course of regional international relations. Tony Allan shows that, while water is important in international relations, its role in bilateral and multilateral international relations is complex and never determining, because water issues are always linked with other factors. When nations negotiate, often the toughest bargaining is not between nations but within them.
Disputes can also arise over what can be described as transgressions of national honour.
The seizure, or attempted seizure, of territory or resources by one State from another occurs when power relations enable an acquisitive initiative to be first considered, then judged feasible and subsequently attempted. In 1990 just such a cycle culminated in armed conflict when Iraq occupied Kuwait in pursuit not of water but of oil. Sovereignty over oil resources is only rarely ambiguous. Only a tiny proportion of crude oil reservoirs are located directly beneath international borders. Kuwait's excessive pumping of the oilfield beneath the Iraq-Kuwait border was in this case cited as the reason for the invasion.