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The Mekong River has recently been one of the "hottest" topics among the academic and "development" circles in the Southeast Asia region. What makes this river exceptional are three things: its shear size, natural abundance, and diversity.
The 10th longest river in the world, the Mekong spans 4,909 kilometers across six countries. The river starts from the "Roof of the World" in Tibet and traverses through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and before joining the sea in Vietnam. Because of its wealth of natural resources, the river enticed European interests in search of resources and markets in the colonial era and continues to draw a flux of developers and investors in the present world of American-led globalization. But the diversity of cultures, languages and interests among the 100 million people along the river has made the Mekong difficult to tame and a hot spot for conflicts.
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Over a century ago, Southeast Asia was in the grip of the expanding influences of European powers. Not to be outdone by Britain, France joined the "colonization train" and gradually exerted its power over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. With a mission to enter China through the back door, France dispatched a "Mekong maniac" survey team to chart upstream along the course of the river. It took the team two difficult years on foot and the life of the team leader for France to realize the Mekong was not navigable and abandon its plan to use the river as an entry to China.
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Over a century later, America has replaced Britain and France as the dominant force in the region. Though explicit colonization is now a thing of the past, the quest for resource extraction in the form of mega-projects continues vigorously under the guise of globalization. China, a rising superpower, is not being entered, but has plans to dynamite rapids and boulders in the upper reaches of the Mekong to enter markets in Southeast Asia .
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The Mekong in the globalization era is plunged into cross-border and internal conflicts as international competition intensifies over the riches of the river and its tributaries. The "New (Dis) Order" led by Western and Chinese interests may mean turbulent times ahead for the Mekong and the 100 million inhabitants of the watershed.
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