ABSTRACT
Development of the Mekong is imperative for reducing poverty and improving the living standards of local communities along the River. As a shared body of water, however, the Mekong is also subject to rivalries or even conflicts over the up-mid-down-stream water distribution for multiple uses. Since effects of resource over-consumption and pollution will likely be devastating and asymmetrical among the riparian communities along the River, there is a pressing need for the six countries of the Subregion to align their divergent national interests, and plan and work jointly for their “common benefits” and “shared prosperity”. Yet how effectively have increased horizontal links among the people of the six member states helped awaken a sense of shared identity and a desire for regional cohesion in the Mekong development? Or, how effectively has closer interdependence of the Mekong countries accommodated the development of a political-social-cultural space conducive for the growth of a regional “we-ness” among not only political elites, but also the general public? The contributors to this volume approach these questions through their analyses of the historical evolution of the Mekong as a region, the potentially vital role of the tourism sector and the Mekong Power Grid in regional identity formation and sustainable development, the relationship between economic growth/prosperity and community construction, the impact of the US-China strategic rivalry on the Subregional geopolitical landscape, and the domestic policy deliberations and public debates respectively in Vietnam, Thailand, and China on water resources development. These thematic inquiries are intended to shed fresh conceptual and empirical light on efforts and challenges in the Mekong Subregion to bring fragmented and competitive water interests into an integrated and coordinated allocation and management framework for the ever more threatened “Mother” river.
