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

Feature ·

New Evidence: How China Turned Off the Tap on the Mekong River

China's dams held back so much water that they entirely prevented the Mekong's annual monsoon-driven rise in river level.

Latest

See all

Mekong Policy

Infographic ·

Mekong Mainstream Dams

Jun 23, 2020

Commentary ·

Discussing China’s Dams on the Mekong

Jun 16, 2020

Op-Ed ·

In the Mekong, a Confluence of Calamities

Apr 28, 2020

Report ·

The Mekong Matters for America and America Matters for the Mekong

Apr 28, 2020

Op-Ed ·

Science Shows Chinese Dams Are Devastating the Mekong

Apr 22, 2020

Feature ·

New Evidence: How China Turned Off the Tap on the Mekong River

Apr 13, 2020

Commentary ·

Vietnam’s Evolving Strategy for Surviving COVID-19

Mar 26, 2020

Commentary ·

COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: outbreak delayed but developing

Mar 24, 2020

Infographic ·

2020 Status of Lower Mekong Mainstream and Tributary Dams

Jan 10, 2020

Infographic ·

Kamphong Khleang village on the Tonle Sap, Cambodia comparison November 2017 to November 2019

Dec 1, 2019

Monitoring the Mekong

Maps, Imagery, & Analysis of Impacts on the River

Infographic ·

Mekong Mainstream Dams

Jun 23, 2020

Infographic ·

2020 Status of Lower Mekong Mainstream and Tributary Dams

Jan 10, 2020

Infographic ·

Kamphong Khleang village on the Tonle Sap, Cambodia comparison November 2017 to November 2019

Dec 1, 2019

Infographic ·

Comparing drought to normal conditions on the Mekong River along the Thai/Lao Border

Nov 30, 2019

Infographic ·

Earthquake Hits northern Laos. Can Surrounding Mekong Dams Survive the Shock?

Nov 22, 2019

Infographic ·

Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake Recede Earlier than Normal

Oct 16, 2019

Infographic ·

Tonle Sap Lake Finally Begins to Expand After Weakened Mekong Monsoon Pulse

Sep 25, 2019

Infographic ·

Kampong Khleang Fishing Village on Tonle Sap Still Shows Drought Conditions

Sep 11, 2019

Infographic ·

Don Sahong Dam nearly complete on Mekong in southern Laos

Aug 25, 2019

Infographic ·

When will this year’s Tonle Sap reversal occur?

Aug 15, 2019

Infographic ·

Images of China’s Jinghong Dam Show No Signs of Relief to Downstream Mekong Countries

Aug 5, 2019

Infographic ·

Xayabouri Dam and drought are exposing the Mekong riverbed downstream

Jul 17, 2019

Infographic ·

China’s Mainstream Mekong Dams

Jul 1, 2019

Infographic ·

China’s Wunonglong Dam on the Upper Mekong Filling

Mar 15, 2019

Infographic ·

The End of Cizhong Village, NW Yunnan province, China

Mar 15, 2019

Infographic ·

Hydropower Dams in Southwest China

Jan 10, 2019

Events

See all

Past

Launch of the Mekong Infrastructure Tracker

May 11, 2020

Past

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

Op-Ed ·

In the Mekong, a Confluence of Calamities

Apr 28, 2020

Op-Ed ·

Science Shows Chinese Dams Are Devastating the Mekong

Apr 22, 2020

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 ·

Why Is China Placing A Global Bet On Coal?

Apr 29, 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

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