How Has the Multilayered Structure of Mekong Region Development Cooperation Developed? An Explanation Based on Strategic Hedging

This paper examines the development of the multilayered structure of Mekong region development cooperation. Since the 1990s, Mekong region development has been a polestar of regional international relations, and a multitude of cooperation initiatives with similar activities has been established. Whereas studies focusing on individual country's policies consider that a 'congestion' of cooperation initiatives was caused by independent pursuit of national interests by the member countries, I hypothesize that such multilayered frameworks are due to an international structure with large disparity and unpredictability among member nations. I use the concept of strategic hedging to explain the relations among regional initiatives among the Mekong countries, stressing that smaller countries' strategic adoption of bandwagoning and balancing against powerful parties and among themselves is to avoid being dominated by other parties. By including a threat in one group while excluding it from others, the country can hedge against the possibility of total dominance by that threat. I show that multilayered cooperation frameworks are the result of such risk-hedging by smaller countries, and that it provides them with increased freedom of action. Adapted from the source document.