Research

Asia

Project

Mekong Policy Project

Reducing Risks in the Mekong Basin

Addressing the regional environmental and social impacts along the Mekong River to improve food security, stability and cross-country relations.

Project Info

As a biodiversity hotspot that is home to more than 60 million people, the Lower Mekong River Basin plays a vital role as the region’s “rice bowl,” the world’s largest freshwater fishery and provider of livelihoods. Stimson’s Mekong Policy Project interacts with a wide range of local and international NGOs, government departments, and academic institutions in addressing environmental, political, and economic challenges in the region.

We lead the discourse on transboundary effects of hydropower dams along the Mekong River, the basin’s significant impacts on regional relations, and the future of water and energy collaboration among a crowded field of regional development frameworks.

Featured

Report ·

Letters from the Mekong: Toward a Sustainable Water-Energy-Food Future in Cambodia

the fifth issue brief in Stimson’s Letters from the Mekong series, which explores the vital role that Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake plays in the Mekong and identifies alternative pathways for development which can optimize trade-offs to the water-energy-food nexus. These alternative approaches include basinwide water-energy planning and a deeper incorporation of non-hydropower renewable energy sources into Cambodia’s future power mix.

Latest

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Mekong Policy

Report ·

Letters from the Mekong: Toward a Sustainable Water-Energy-Food Future in Cambodia

Feb 27, 2019

Report ·

UAE Energy Diplomacy: Exporting Renewable Energy to the Global South

Sep 27, 2018

Commentary ·

Can ‘Citizen Science’ Save Vietnam’s Environment From Unchecked Economic Growth?

Apr 24, 2018

Op-Ed ·

Jake Brunner and Brian Eyler Op-Ed on the Mekong Cooperation

Apr 2, 2018

Commentary ·

Field Notes — Tonle Sap Lake

Jan 31, 2018

Report ·

Letters from the Mekong: Mekong Power Shift – Emerging Trends in the GMS Power Sector

Jul 25, 2017

Report ·

Letters from the Mekong: A Call for Strategic Basin-Wide Energy Planning in Laos

Oct 12, 2016

Report ·

China needs to change its energy strategy in the Mekong region

Jan 29, 2016

Report ·

Letters from the Mekong: Time for a New Narrative on Mekong Hydropower

Oct 9, 2015

Commentary ·

60 Million Depending on the Mekong, Dams Threaten Livelihoods

Jul 1, 2015

Events

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Upcoming

Natural Resources Safeguards and Security as a Part of the Indo-Pacific Vision

Feb 24, 2020

Past

The Political Ecology of Catastrophic Disasters versus Slow Violence: Thinking about the Impacts of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Hydropower Dam in Southern Laos

Mar 21, 2019

Past

Letters From the Mekong; Toward a Sustainable Water-Energy-Food Future in Cambodia

Feb 13, 2019

Past

Last Days of the Mighty Mekong Book Launch

Jan 29, 2019

Past

Development and Human Rights in Cambodia

May 17, 2018

Past

Power Shift: Emerging Trends in the Greater Mekong Subregion’s Energy Sector

Jul 14, 2017

Past

Hun Sen’s Cambodia and the 2017 Commune Elections

Jun 5, 2017

Past

Letters from the Mekong: A Call for Strategic Basin-Wide Energy Planning in Laos

Oct 5, 2016

Past

Sustainable Development & River Basin Management: From the Mekong to the Mississippi

Aug 9, 2016

Past

Requiem for a River? Discussion on the Future of the Mekong

Jun 27, 2016

Past

Myanmar: A Case Study for Improving Hydropower through System-Scale Planning

Jun 9, 2016

Past

Climate Change, Drought, and the US Relationship with Vietnam

May 11, 2016

Past

The Asia-Pacific Rebalance: The Role of Development in Building a Climate-Resilient Asia

Dec 1, 2015

Past

Challenges, Opportunities, And A New Narrative On Hydropower Development

Sep 29, 2015

Past

Infrastructure in ASEAN: Opportunities and Challenges for U.S. Businesses

Jun 18, 2015

Past

Hydropower Dams on the Mekong and 3S Rivers: A Regional Environmental and Socioeconomic Perspective

Mar 27, 2015

Past

A River Changes Course

Mar 27, 2015

Past

The Politics of Chinese Hydropower Development in Southeast Asia

Mar 27, 2015

Past

After Xayaburi and Don Sahong: Time for a New Narrative on Mekong Hydropower

Mar 27, 2015

Past

Dam Dilemmas: Competing Priorities for Development of the Mekong River

Oct 8, 2014

Past

Finding Solutions to Equitable Hydropower Development Planning in the Lower Mekong Basin

Mar 27, 2014

Past

Shared River, Shared Future: Interactive Workshop on Mekong River Development

Jul 17, 2011

In the News

Stimson in the News ·

Brian Eyler Speaks to Importance of the Lower Mekong Initiative

Aug 2, 2019

Stimson in the News ·

Review of Brian Eyler’s ‘The Last Days of the Mighty Mekong ‘

May 3, 2019

Stimson in the News ·

Op-Ed by Courtney Weatherby on Power Demand in Southeast Asia

Jan 14, 2019

Stimson in the News ·

Courtney Weatherby Quoted on Economies of Mekong River nations

May 9, 2018

Stimson in the News ·

Brian Eyler Interviwed on Solar on the Mekong

Apr 15, 2018

Stimson in the News ·

Brian Eyler Quoted on Mekong Solar Power

Apr 11, 2018

Stimson in the News ·

Brian Eyler Quoted on Mekong Governance

Apr 6, 2018

Stimson in the News ·

Brian Eyler Quoted on MRC Summit

Apr 5, 2018

Op-Ed ·

Jake Brunner and Brian Eyler Op-Ed on the Mekong Cooperation

Apr 2, 2018

Stimson in the News ·

Brian Eyler and Courtney Weatherby Op-Ed on Clean Energy along the Mekong

Mar 17, 2018

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