Opportunities and Challenges for the Greater Mekong Subregion
The Mekong River is a vital and valuable resource, with huge development potential for the six states through which it flows. Given the significant asymmetry of power between those states, however, there is a real risk that some might utilise it to the detriment of others.
Without a sense of regional belonging, it is difficult to imagine that these states and their constituent communities will take regional imperatives to heart, participate in joint regulatory frameworks, or adopt behaviours for upstream-downstream and lateral cooperation over the appropriation and use of their shared resources. How effectively has closer interdependence of the Mekong countries accommodated the development of a political-social-cultural space conducive to the growth of a regional we-ness among not only political elites, but also the general public? The contributors to this volume approach this question from a range of directions, including the impacts of tourism, regional development programmes, the Mekong Power Grid, and Sino-US rivalry.
This edited volume presents valuable insights for scholars of international relations, Asian studies, development studies, environment studies, policy studies, and human geography.
Charles Samuel Johnston has recently retired from the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Auckland University of Technology, where he had lectured from 1998 to 2018. His main research themes focus on tourism in Asia and in cities, and on the relationship between tourism and socio-economic development.
Xin Chen is Research Fellow and Program Officer at the New Zealand Asia Institute of the University of Auckland. Her research interests focus on East Asian regional integration, China-Asia relations, and Chinese politics.
Routledge Studies on the Asia-Pacific Region
Local Political Participation in Japan
A Case Study of Oita
Dani Daigle Kida
The US-Japan Security Community
Theoretical Understanding of Transpacific Relationships
Hidekazu Sakai
Opportunities and Challenges for the Greater Mekong Subregion
Building a Shared Vision of Our River
Edited by Charles Samuel Johnston and Xin Chen
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-on-the-Asia-Pacific-Region/book-series/RSAPR
First published 2020
by Routledge
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2020 selection and editorial matter, Charles Samuel Johnston and Xin Chen; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Charles Samuel Johnston and Xin Chen to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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ISBN: 978-0-367-44101-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00761-6 (ebk)
The editors of this book would like to express their gratitude and appreciation to the Japan Foundation and the New Zealand Asia Institute at the University of Auckland, whose financial and institutional support made the project possible. They would also like to thank the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development of Chiang Mai University in Thailand and the Souphanouvong University in Laos for their scholarly assistance and encouragement. The editors would especially like to thank all the contributors to this book for their hard work, fresh ideas, in-depth analysis, and patience during the project.
Bui Quang Binh is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Regional Sustainable Development at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. His research focuses on environmental issues. Being a Geographic Information System (GIS) and Geodesy specialist, Dr Binh has conducted several studies on climate change in and natural disaster risk prediction models for the Mekong Delta region.
Xin Chen is Research Fellow and Program Officer at the New Zealand Asia Institute at the University of Auckland. Her research interests focus on East Asian regional integration, China-Asia relations, and Chinese politics.
Ilpyo Hong is a Research Fellow in the Land, Water Conservation and Environment Department at the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT). He is widely experienced in a number of different fields with a focus on water-related risk, disasters, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), water rights, the balanced allocation of water and coordinates for the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on water and disasters (HELP) for over a decade.
Kenneth Jackson is a Research Associate at the New Zealand Asia Institute and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Auckland. He is also an Adjunct Research Professor at the Auckland Institute of Studies. He retired in June 2012 as Director of the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Auckland, which he joined in 2003, having formerly been a long-time staff member in Economics. His. research and consultancy has covered Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, encompassing issues related to economics, economic history, development and agriculture, trade, migration and remittances, technology and infrastructure, food supply and food security, mining and electricity-related issues.
Charles Samuel Johnston has recently retired from the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Auckland University of Technology, where he had lectured from 1998 to 2018. His main research themes focus on tourism in Asia and in cities, and on the relationship between tourism and socio-economic development.
Seungho Lee is Professor of International Development at the Graduate School of International Studies at Korea University. His current research focuses on transboundary water management with special reference to China, South Korea, Southeast Asia, in particular the Mekong River Basin, and Europe. Professor Lee often consults with government research institutions and public companies in South Korea, such as the Korea Development Institute, the Korea Economic Institute, and K-water, and international donor agencies, such as UNESCAP Bangkok, and UNESCO-Institute for Water Security and Sustainable Management, Daejeon, South Korea.
