Transboundary Dam: Hydropower Diplomacy Simulator (2D)

Many of the world's largest rivers cross national borders, and the dam that generates one country's electricity controls the water that feeds another's fields downstream — a structural link between energy policy and peace. This 2D cross-section simulator models a single upstream reservoir with a real mass-balance equation: turbine release drains it, natural inflow (throttled by a dry-season slider) refills it, and hydraulic head plus release rate determine live power output in megawatts, exactly as in the 3D version. Switching between unilateral and treaty-coordinated operation shows the mechanic at the heart of real transboundary water-energy diplomacy — a negotiated minimum flow floor turns a resource one nation could withhold into one both nations can rely on — and the live diplomatic tension index, strip chart and flow/demand bars track how a downstream irrigation deficit accumulates under each policy. Drag the riverbank panel to pan the view from the reservoir down to the irrigated fields.