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EWC Research Speaker Series
Thursday, July 20, 2023
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. HST
Last Days of the Mighty Mekong
featuring
Brian Eyler, Director, The Stimson Center Southeast Asia Program
Energy, Water Sustainability Program
Celebrated for its natural beauty and its abundance of wildlife, the Mekong river runs thousands of kilometres through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its basin is home to more than 70 million people and has for centuries been one of the world’s richest agricultural areas and a biodynamic wonder. Today, the Mekong is undergoing profound changes. Development policies, led by a rising China in particular, aim to interconnect the region and urbanise the inhabitants. And a series of dams will harness the river’s energy, while eroding its natural cycles and reducing food supplies for swathes of the population. Brian Eyler, author and director of the Stimson Centre’s Southeast Asia program, traveled from the river’s headwaters in China’s Yunnan province to its delta in southern Vietnam to explore its modern evolution. During this talk he will recount meetings with the region’s diverse peoples, from villagers to community leaders, politicians to policymakers. Eyler will explain the urgent struggle to save the Mekong and its unique ecosystem and discuss the work his team is doing to improve accountability and transparency through the pathfinding efforts of the Mekong Dam Monitor.
Brian Eyler directs the Southeast Asia Program and the Energy, Water, and Sustainability Program. He is an expert on transboundary issues in the Mekong region and specializes in China’s economic cooperation with Southeast Asia. He spent more than 15 years living and working in China and over the last two decades has conducted extensive research with stakeholders in the Mekong region. He is widely recognized as a leading voice on environmental, energy, and water security issues in the Mekong. Brian is co-lead on the Mekong Dam Monitor, the winner of 2021 Esri Special Achievement in GIS Award, 1st Prize in the 2021 Prudence Foundation’s Disaster Tech Competition, and the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation’s 2021 Outstanding Achievement Award. He also serves as chair of the Stimson Center’s War Legacy Working Group. His first book, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong, was published by Zed Books in 2019. He holds a MA from the University of California, San Diego and a BA from Bucknell University.
The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect East-West Center policies or positions.
EWC Research Speaker Series
Thursday, July 20, 2023
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. HST
Last Days of the Mighty Mekong
featuring
Brian Eyler, Director, The Stimson Center Southeast Asia Program
Energy, Water Sustainability Program
Celebrated for its natural beauty and its abundance of wildlife, the Mekong river runs thousands of kilometres through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its basin is home to more than 70 million people and has for centuries been one of the world’s richest agricultural areas and a biodynamic wonder. Today, the Mekong is undergoing profound changes. Development policies, led by a rising China in particular, aim to interconnect the region and urbanise the inhabitants. And a series of dams will harness the river’s energy, while eroding its natural cycles and reducing food supplies for swathes of the population. Brian Eyler, author and director of the Stimson Centre’s Southeast Asia program, traveled from the river’s headwaters in China’s Yunnan province to its delta in southern Vietnam to explore its modern evolution. During this talk he will recount meetings with the region’s diverse peoples, from villagers to community leaders, politicians to policymakers. Eyler will explain the urgent struggle to save the Mekong and its unique ecosystem and discuss the work his team is doing to improve accountability and transparency through the pathfinding efforts of the Mekong Dam Monitor.
Brian Eyler directs the Southeast Asia Program and the Energy, Water, and Sustainability Program. He is an expert on transboundary issues in the Mekong region and specializes in China’s economic cooperation with Southeast Asia. He spent more than 15 years living and working in China and over the last two decades has conducted extensive research with stakeholders in the Mekong region. He is widely recognized as a leading voice on environmental, energy, and water security issues in the Mekong. Brian is co-lead on the Mekong Dam Monitor, the winner of 2021 Esri Special Achievement in GIS Award, 1st Prize in the 2021 Prudence Foundation’s Disaster Tech Competition, and the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation’s 2021 Outstanding Achievement Award. He also serves as chair of the Stimson Center’s War Legacy Working Group. His first book, Last Days of the Mighty Mekong, was published by Zed Books in 2019. He holds a MA from the University of California, San Diego and a BA from Bucknell University.
The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect East-West Center policies or positions.
