River basins create hydrologic interdependencies that force States to negotiate their interests and national security within a regional context. A hydropolitical security complex emerges when States consider shared resources as a major national security issue. Changes within the political economy of the Mekong basin create new security issues as multiple interests complete for the Mekong’s shared resources. In particular, China has begun developing the upper portions of the Mekong River, which could change the quantity and quality of downstream flows and could impede other States’ ability to fulfill their national agendas vis-à-vis the Mekong.

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