This chapter outlines the volume’s overall content and objectives. It defines the problem of water insecurity in the Indus basin and provides essential background data on the basin’s history, geography, demography, and hydrology. It offers an explanation for the enormous importance of the basin’s water resources to stakeholders at both the state (Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan) and sub-state levels, clarifies the relationship between the Kashmir dispute and the waters of the Indus system, supplies an overview of the Indus Waters Treaty, and highlights the geopolitical significance to the international community of the Indus basin’s water resource circumstances. It briefly identifies each chapter’s main focus.