The aim of this research is to understand why foreign policies and programs in international water cooperation are difficult to implement?

This question is an emblematic problem that has been studied in the policy implementation arena, in the sense of understanding how policy is put into practice (O’Toole, 1986; Schofield, 2001; Cerna, 2013). Nevertheless, according to literature reviews regarding the state-of-the-art policy implementation research, studies with the international scale as main focus are rather scarce (Saetren, 2005) and solid cross-national investigations are still rare and clearly needed (O’Toole, 2000), especially in international water relations (Warner & Zeitoun, 2008).

This research builds upon this gap, providing insights into a particular foreign implementation policy related to water. The Netherlands International Water Ambition which is a policy to spread the Dutch expertise while promoting Dutch enterprises worldwide.