A River Changes Course: The Mekong, the United States, and the World

Center for Peacemaking Practice: Cross-Cultural Dialogue Event

THE MEKONG, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE WORLD

1:45pm-5:30pm, Friday, April 4, 2014

George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR)

3434 N. Washington Boulevard, Room 5183, 5^thFloor, Arlington, VA 22201

Parking and Directions: http://scar.gmu.edu/main-site/parking-and-directions

Everyone (with business casual dress) is welcome!

Please RSVP to Nhina Le at [email protected]

Goals

This event aims to achieve two interrelated goals:

1. Exploring innovative ways to understand the diverse development needs and non-traditional security challenges of the Mekong region.
2. Building awareness of the complexities of the Mekong dam conflict; global and local responses to this conflict; and the implications for ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), China, and U.S relations.

Agenda

There are two sessions in this public event. The first session provides the opportunity for cross-cultural learning about the promise and performance of development and state-building. The second session focuses on mutual dialogue about global and local responses to the Mekong dam conflict.

1:45pm: Registration

2:00pm: Welcoming remarks and stories about “basic human needs” (BHNs) theory in peace and conflict studies.

Session One

2:15pm-3:30pm: A River Changes Course film screening.

The film exposes audiences to the irreversible changes and hard choices triggered by unsustainable development and state-building patterns in Cambodia and in the Mekong region. Remarkably, the stories about Cambodians’ BHNs (e.g. the needs for sustainable means of survival, development and empowerment, cultural identities, freedom and dignity) which the film portrays are in line with the stories narrated by ordinary people in the United States, China, and other counties across the world. Watch trailer: http://ariverchangescourse.com

The film provokes two critical questions:

1. What are the meanings of sustainable development and state-building?
2. How can the public, private, and civil society sectors collectively actualize development and state-building in ways that address—but do not deny—BHNs?

3:30pm-3:50pm: Discussion with Kalyanee Mam (via Skype) and Nhina Le

Tea Break

3:50pm-4:00pm

Session Two

4:00pm-4:10pm: Opening remarks and stories about “multi-sector collaboration” in peace and conflict studies. 

4:10pm-5:30pm: Global and Local Responses to the Mekong Dam Conflict 

Dialogue with Kalyanee Mam (via Skype), Kirk Herbertson, Zach Dubel, Courtney Weatherby, and Nhina Le.

The discussants in this dialogue have diverse and even contradictory understandings of the Mekong dam conflict, and yet, they are all committed to saving the Mekong River from unsustainable development projects. The Mekong River is a shared resource between China and five Southeast Asian countries in the Mekong sub-region, namely: Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Over 80 million people depend on the river for their means of survival, livelihoods, and cultural identities; but recent large-scale resource development, especially in the form of hydropower construction, pose serious multidimensional problems within the river basin. As the Mekong dam conflict has not been timely, collectively, and comprehensively addressed by key stakeholders, this conflict has gradually escalated and mixed with other conflicts within and among the countries of Asia. These dynamics make the prospect of peace, stability, and prosperity of the region messy and unpredictable.

The dialogue aims to address several interrelated questions:

1. Conflict description: what is the Mekong dam conflict all about?
2. Conflict linkages: what are the broader contexts that shape the Mekong dam conflict?
3. Conflict evaluation: have the existing cooperation frameworks, e.g. the Mekong River Commission, the Greater Mekong Sub-region, ASEAN, and the U.S.’ Lower Mekong Initiative, failed to achieve their goals of fostering transnational cooperation for sustainable development of the Mekong? Has civil society successfully saved the Mekong River?
4. Conflict research methods: what are the opportunities and challenges facing peace educators, field researchers, and socio-environmental justice activists operating in the Mekong?

About the Mekong River, people, and dam conflict: http://portal.mrcmekong.org/cms/video; http://vimeo.com/6819289; News from the Save the Mekong Coalition: http://www.savethemekong.org/

About the U.S.’ Lower Mekong Initiative: http://www.state.gov/p/eap/mekong/; http://lowermekong.org/about/lower-mekong-initiative-lmi; Lessons from the U.S. Dam-Nation: http://www.damnationfilm.com/

Discussants’ Biographies

Kalyanee Mam is an award-winning filmmaker. The film A River Changes Course which she directed and produced has won several awards, including the Grand Jury Award for World Cinema Documentary at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and the Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2013 San Francisco International Film Festival.http://ariverchangescourse.com

Kirk Herbertson is a human rights and environmental lawyer who recently worked with civil society organizations in the Mekong region on the Xayaburi Dam campaign. Herbertson’s latest analysis can be seen at: http://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/267/the-mekong-dams-dispute-four-trends-to-watch

Zach Dubel is a researcher and policy analyst who recently worked at the Stimson Center on Southeast Asia’s issues.Dubel’s analysis can be seen at: http://www.stimson.org/spotlight/troubled-future-for-the-mekong/

Courtney Weatherby is a researcher and graduate student at Georgetown University whose research interests include China, Southeast Asia, and the environment. Weatherby’s analysis can be seen at: http://www.stimson.org/spotlight/spotlight-on-chinas-social-risk-assessment-mandate/

Nhina Le is a research analyst and a PhD student at S-CAR whose areas of focus include peace, conflict resolution, and Southeast Asia studies. Le’s recent analysis can be seen at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10402659.2013.785333#.UyceFfnMSi0

Post-event

5:30pm: Dinner, tea, beer, and networking at Rocklands, 3471 Washington Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201 (cash bar). http://www.rocklands.com/locations/arlington-va/

Sponsors

S-CAR’s Center for Peacemaking Practice and Southeast Asia Studies group http://scar.gmu.edu/cpp

Asian Foundation Resource Center’s International Institute of Peace Studies (Thailand) http://www.arf-asia.org/index.html

Center for Peace and Development (India) http://www.cpdsindia.org/index.htm

Ho Chi Minh City Association of Victims of Agent Oranges / Dioxin (Vietnam) http://vava.com.vn/

For further questions about the event, please contact Nhina Le at [email protected].

A River Changes Course- Official Trailer

Publish Date: January 09, 2013

Twice a year in Cambodia, the Tonle Sap River changes course, while life for the Khmer people continue to flow in a perpetual cycle of death and rebirth and of creation and destruction. Working in an intimate, verité style, filmmaker Kalyanee Mam (Director of Photography for the Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job), spent two years in her native homeland following three young Cambodians as they struggled to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt. A breathtaking and unprecedented journey from the remote, mountainous jungles and floating cities of the Cambodian countryside to the bustling garment factories of modern Phnom Penh, A River Changes Course traces a devastating and beautiful story of an ancient culture ravaged by globalization.