Adam Simpson

The environment – Energy security nexus: critical analysis of an energy ‘love triangle’ in Southeast Asia

Abstract The mantra of energy security is regularly employed as an excuse for governing elites in the less affluent South to pursue large-scale energy projects that are often inappropriate and unnecessary for local development needs. This situation is exemplified in Thailand, Burma and Laos. Here the dominant classes have created an energy ‘love triangle’, whereby Thailand exports the many problems associated with cross-border energy projects to its more authoritarian neighbours while importing the resultant energy. This article employs critical security literature and the concept of earth rights to investigate these relationships and elucidate resultant linkages between environmental and energy security. It finds that, far from safeguarding local communities from depravation, these projects often exacerbate existing social tensions and conflict, hastening environmental degradation and intensifying various manifestations of insecurity.

Challenging hydropower development in Myanmar (Burma): cross-border activism under a regime in transition

Abstract Although general elections in Myanmar (Burma) in November 2010 have transformed the political landscape, many of the characters remain the same. While there is evidence of incremental domestic political openings many of the political constraints that existed during military rule remain in force. As a consequence of decades of military authoritarian governance and civil conflict, it is Myanmars contested ethnic borderlands that have been the important locales for the development of environmental movements, despite increased recent domestic activity. This article analyses a case study of the largely cross-border campaign against hydropower dams on the Salween River in Myanmar and finds that through the suppression of opposition and dissent at home the regime has stimulated the creation of an ‘activist diaspora’, a dynamic transnational community of expatriates who engage in environmental activism beyond the reach of the regime. Due to their relative freedom on the border and in Thailand this community has developed expertise and international networks that have proved crucial in communicating the social and environmental impacts of hydropower development in Myanmar to the international community. Through increased cooperation with an expanding domestic civil society this established activist community is stimulating improved environmental governance of hydropower development and simultaneously assisting in the creation of a more open and democratic Myanmar.

The Asian Development Bank as a Global Risk Regulator in Myanmar

Abstract The Asian Development Bank (adb) is engaged in development projects throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion, although for most of the past two decades it has boycotted Myanmar (Burma) because of donor government sanctions. Despite being criticised for its neoliberal focus and its lack of transparency and accountability, the adb’s operations compare favourably to those of the Myanmar government and many transnational corporations constructing and financing projects there. This article engages with the concept of risk, which increasingly frames how development in fragile states like Myanmar is understood, to critically analyse the adb’s nascent re-engagement in Myanmar according to the risks this poses for five constituencies: the adb itself; donor states; the Myanmar government and military; private capital; and marginalised communities. While deeper engagement in Myanmar poses different risks for each group, critical analysis suggests that the adb must increase the genuine participation of civil society actors in its activities to address the most significant risks of all, those facing marginalised communities.

Transitions to Energy and Climate Security in Southeast Asia? Civil Society Encounters with Illiberalism in Thailand and Myanmar

ABSTRACT All states, whether governed by liberal or illiberal regimes, face the prospect of momentous and potentially catastrophic environmental impacts due to climate change. Historically, energy policy has been directed towards simply achieving energy security. This goal has now been significantly complicated by the need to achieve it while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental non governmental organizations (ENGOs) could play a crucial role in promoting the transition to energy and climate security but the relative (il)liberalism of the political regime they operate under influences their effectiveness. This article assesses how ENGOs have impacted on the transition to energy and climate security in Myanmar and Thailand, two Southeast Asian countries highly susceptible to climate impacts and characterized by illiberal rule. It finds that the impact of ENGOs was highly dependent on their strategies, tactics and operation, with community-level projects providing a key route to effect change under conditions of extreme illiberalism.

Market Building and Risk under a Regime in Transition: The Asian Development Bank in Myanmar (Burma)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and most other multilateral development banks (MDBs) have not provided significant direct assistance to Myanmar (Burma) since the mid-1980s, largely as a result of Western disapprobation over its military-dominated government.1 While the agenda prominently promoted by the ADB through its funding of programmes and projects across the Asia-Pacific as a whole can be considered part of an emerging “regulatory regionalism”, the regionalisation of economic governance through internal transformation of the state (Jayasuriya 2009; Hameiri and Jayasuriya 2011), its role in Myanmar has been strictly limited. Nonetheless, through its Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)2 programme, the ADB has provided some indirect technical assistance for projects based in Myanmar but, due to broader Western isolation policies, this has been allocated to NGOs, consultants and intermediaries rather than government agencies. The contributions have also been small compared with the direct assistance proffered to other non-democratic GMS states such as Laos and Vietnam, indicating the strong political influence within the organisation wielded by its major donors.3 Importantly, however, much of the indirect assistance that does flow from the ADB relates to proposed “economic corridors” including the East—West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC), GMS “Flagship Initiatives” that have the stated aims of facilitating trade and investment and reducing poverty across Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (Asian Development Bank 2010b, 2010c).

The Environment in Southeast Asia: Injustice, Conflict and Activism

As demonstrated throughout this volume, the types and severity of dilemmas facing states within Southeast Asia can vary enormously depending on their history, culture, politics and level of social and economic development. This is partially true of environmental issues, but many environmental concerns fail to respect the otherwise tangible privileges of economic development, just as they often ignore state boundaries. This situation was amply demonstrated by the choking haze - the worst ever - from primarily Indonesian forest fires engulfing Singapore and other countries in late 2015, and severely interrupting the otherwise largely First World daily existence of its citizens. Transboundary environmental issues are often focused on mainland Southeast Asia, with the sharing of water resources from transboundary rivers a key example (Boer et al. 2016), but the haze covering most of the region clearly demonstrated that oceans are also no barrier to the transit of environmental problems. Similarly, climate change is likely to be the dominant overarching environmental issue for the foreseeable future and in this case regional, and even global, transboundary environmental pollution affects both mainland and maritime Southeast Asia equally. Southeast Asia is particularly at risk to weather extremes exacerbated by climate change; it includes four out of the ten countries globally most affected by extreme weather events between 1993 and 2012 (Kreft and Eckstein 2013).

Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Myanmar

After decades of mismanagement and direct military rule, Myanmar’s contested transition to a more democratic government has rapidly shifted the outlook in this significant Southeast Asian nation. Since 2011, the removal of Western sanctions and new foreign investments have resulted in high rates of economic growth and an expanding middle class, albeit from a very low base. In a result unthinkable a few years earlier, former political prisoner and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), formed a national government in early 2016. However, despite significant political and economic reforms since the liberalisation process commenced, the transition to civilian rule remains constrained by the military’s 2008 Constitution, which guarantees that it operates unfettered by civilian oversight. As a result, although some ethnic conflicts have abated, others continue to fester and new conflicts have erupted. With a daunting task ahead the NLD government has made some progress in removing the vestiges of repressive military-era laws but many remain untouched and some of the practices of the new government provide unwelcome reminders of its authoritarian history. This timely Handbook describes the political, economic, and cultural dimensions of this crucial period of transition in Myanmar. It presents explanations for contradictory trends, including those that defy some of the early narratives about the comprehensive transformation of Myanmar. The Handbook also considers the impact of major environmental, strategic, and demographic trends which help underscore that Myanmar’s development will be an ongoing task. In addition to introductory and concluding chapters by the editors, the body of the Handbook is divided into seven core sections: • Fundamentals • Spaces • Cultures • Living • Governance • International • Challenges Written by an international team of scholars, with a mix of world-leading established academics and talented emerging researchers, the Handbook provides a rigorous scholarly overview of Myanmar’s politics, economics, and society. As Myanmar opens to Western businesses and government agencies, this is an invaluable reference book that will provide a foundation for further research and offer the first port of call for scholars, students, and policy makers working on Myanmar and Asia.

Environment and natural resources

This chapter explores the dynamics of environmental and natural resource governance in Myanmar. It provides an overview of how corruption in Myanmar has impacted on its environment and natural resources. The chapter examines the historical challenges to environmental governance and security during the period of military rule. It also explores the emerging state-led forms of environmental governance under the Thein Sein government. The chapter also examines the prospects for effective environmental governance under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government. Agriculture and natural resources are the most significant components of Myanmars economy: they dominate exports and provide the vast majority of its foreign exchange, whether official or unofficial. The chapter outlines the impacts of various epochs on Myanmars environment and the development of more effective environmental governance tools, including greater transparency in the natural resources sector.