Ringler Too much or too little water in the Mekong ?

Prof. Andreas Wimmer Director at ZEF Since the end of the cold war, the development policy debate has undergone a remarkable transformation. Whereas before, the political and legal environment of a developing country has been scarcely taken into consideration, today human rights, good governance, the rule of law and democracy, peaceful conflict settlement etc. have become central elements of development strategies, even if much of this remains on the level of rhetoric and of declarations of intent. A similar reorientation has taken place in the field of research, both academic and applied. Until a decade ago, political and legal institutions were mostly considered exogenous variables of no central importance to explaining “underdevelopment” and development. Today, institutional regulations are placed in the very center of analysis and a consensus has emerged that legal security, transparency and good governance play a crucial role for successful development. Within this changed intellectual climate, the dynamics of political conflicts and their institutional regulations are now frequently discussed within a development context. ZEF has recently developed its own branch of activities in this growing area of conflict and development. Against this background ZEForganized an international conference from 1416 December which was dedicated to the most widespread type of conflict since the end of the cold war: ethnic conflicts. The results of this conference, soon to be published, will hopefully contribute to a shift in the focus of development studies and to a deeper understanding of the political and institutional obstacles which have to be overcome. Last fall a large-scale inundation in the lower Mekong basin took more than 600 lives, and caused substantial material damage. The annual flooding season is only one of the many faces of the mighty Mekong, which dominates the landscape of mainland South East Asia with a total length of 4,200 km.