Water, Politics and Money

Manuel Schiffler has worked for over twenty years on water management and water utilities in more than a dozen countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He worked as a researcher for the German Development Institute and as a project manager at the World Bank. He now supports water projects in developing countries at the German Development Bank KfW. He holds a diploma and a doctoral degree in economics from the Free University in Berlin.

• Part I: Introduction.- Introduction.- Part II: Latin America: Two Aborted Privatizations and One that Endured.- Bolivia: The Cochabamba Water War and its Aftermath.- Cuba: Water Privatization in a Socialist Country.- Argentina: A Flagship Privatization and its Demise.- Part III: The Middle East: Reform Deadlock, with an Exception.- Egypt: Kafka on the Nile.- Jordan: Private Plants, Public Utilities.- Part IV: Europe and North America: Private and Public Utilities Compared.- The United Kingdom: A Natural Experiment between Private and Public Management.- France: An Improved Partnership in the Motherland of Multinational Water Companies.- Germany: Healthy Municipal Utilities, with a Quirk.- Berlin: Privatized to fill State Coffers, Remunicipalized at the State’s Expense.- Civil Society and the EU Concession Directive: David beats Goliath, Using a Few Tricks.- The United States: Public Water in a Capitalist Country.- Part V: Asia and Africa: Three Successful Utility Turnarounds, Public and Private.- The Philippines: A Delayed Privatization Success Story in Manila.- Uganda: A Public Utility Turnaround, Triggered by Pressure to Privatize.- Cambodia: A Public Utility Turnaround, Ending with Privatization.- Utility Turnarounds Compared: The Importance of Corporate Culture and Financing.- Part VI: Conclusions.- It is not about Private or Public.