Routledge Opportunities and Challenges for the Greater Mekong Subregion: Building a Shared Vision of Our River (Routledge Studies on the Asia-Pacific Region)

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. About the Author 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.