Institutional cooperation and rivalry in the Mekong sub-region

Abstract

The Mekong sub-region is seeing the increased involvement of major powers, including the US, China, Japan, South Korea and India through cooperation mechanisms. Those platforms can be seen as institutions as they are created based on combined set of rules or norms that member states are committed to. This thesis examines the extent that institutions promote cooperation or restrain rivalry in the Mekong subregion and the impact upon the subregion. Cooperation and rivalry in the Mekong subregion can be seen at three levels: between China and lower Mekong countries, among lower Mekong countries, and between China on one side and the US and its allies on the other side. In that examination, the thesis adopts the frameworks which see that institutions set rules and norms for the behaviors of participating countries. Therefore, institutions will be able to promote cooperation among states. However, institutions can also be seen as the extension of state policy so institutions may have minimal impact on state behavior. In this understanding, institutions may be used in the competition between countries. The thesis uses empirical evidence to examine China behaviors and the responses by lower Mekong countries as well as how external powers are engaging in the subregion via institutions. Central in this examination is how institutions are used in their cooperation and rivalry. On that basis, the thesis argues that subregional institutions have been able to promote cooperation between lower Mekong countries, and to some extent between China and other Mekong riparian countries. However, institutions have promoted rivalry between China on one side and the US together with allies on the other side. This rivalry is seen at the diplomatic front and subregional economic programs.