Is three a crowd? River basin institutions and the governance of the Mekong River

ABSTRACT

The Mekong River is important for South-East Asia, where it is shared by six countries and serves 70 million people. Its sensitive ecology is essential for the region’s well-being. Managing the river for economic development while protecting this ecology is challenging. This article investigates the institutions in place for governing the Mekong, as how they interact is significant for the region’s future. Institutional and state discourses regarding the Mekong and its institutions are analyzed to examine the relationships between them and with the Mekong nations, and the effects they may have on the sustainable future of the Mekong.

KEYWORDS:

• Mekong River
• institutions
• discourse analysis
• Lancang Mekong Cooperation Mechanism
• China

Acknowledgments

The author would like the thank P. Hills, K. Joe-Laidler and W. Law for input and guidance on the project and two reviewers from HKU for their comments on the manuscript. J. M. Williams was supported by a University of Hong Kong studentship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.