25 November 2020
The Geopolitics of the Mekong and A Radical Proposal for ASEAN to Navigate It
Executive Summary
The Mekong sub-region threatens to become yet another space for great power competition. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must work together to overcome the exclusive institutional plurality characterising the Mekong’s multilateral landscape today. In order to do so, it is necessary to connect the Mekong with the South China Sea (SCS) and treat Southeast Asia as one strategic space. ASEAN should ratify a new ASEAN Agreement on South China Sea-Mekong Reciprocity to establish itself at the centre of Mekong management. This way, ASEAN can regain indigenous agency to get a hold on externally imposed geopolitics.
Source: flickr
Executive Summary
The Mekong sub-region threatens to become yet another space for great power competition. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must work together to overcome the exclusive institutional plurality characterising the Mekong’s multilateral landscape today. In order to do so, it is necessary to connect the Mekong with the South China Sea (SCS) and treat Southeast Asia as one strategic space. ASEAN should ratify a new ASEAN Agreement on South China Sea-Mekong Reciprocity to establish itself at the centre of Mekong management. This way, ASEAN can regain indigenous agency to get a hold on externally imposed geopolitics.
Source: flickr
