Dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries, as of July

The Mekong Region s volatile geopolitics have affected the management and development of this transboundary river in profound ways. Four main periods mark the past half century in terms of geopolitical relations and influences. 

The United Nations had established the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) in 1947, and this body subsequently initiated a series of studies focusing on the development of the lower Mekong (Mekong Committee Secretariat, 1989). By 1954, all the former countries of French Indochina had gained independence (Osborne, 2000). While the withdrawal of colonial powers set the 

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