Navigating Mainland Southeast Asia: Mekong Governance, Cyber Scams, and Regional Flashpoints

Mainland Southeast Asia and the Mekong Region sit at the heart of the Indo-Pacific and are key focal areas for US foreign policy. The region is home to America’s strategic partners like Vietnam and Thailand, which is also a treaty ally of the United States. A prosperous and secure mainland Southeast Asia can lead to remarkable economic development that will benefit Americans with trade and investment opportunities, yet the burgeoning region is also home to a major ongoing conflict in Myanmar and is fraught with challenges related to natural resource conservation, a flagging human rights record, and recovery from conflicts in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The Mekong Region has also emerged as a key front for constructive competition between China and the United States. The Stimson Center is a center of excellence for achieving substantive impacts in mainland Southeast Asia. As an implementing partner of the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, our Southeast Asia program focuses efforts on promoting sustainable development and science diplomacy to conserve the mighty Mekong’s resources. Our Myanmar project examines the power dynamics among the complex nexus of actors there. Stimson’s War Legacies Working Group identifies and promotes needs for further cleanup of unexploded ordnance and dioxin in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. And our Cyber program addresses ways to prevent Americans from being victimized by cyber scam activities originating in mainland Southeast Asia. On April 2nd, join us to hear from our experts on why America needs to continue to engage in mainland Southeast Asia and how a secure and prosperous mainland Southeast Asia is good for America. This conference will also feature high level speakers from the U.S. Department of State and Congress. This conference is supported by the Chino-Cienega Center, the Pulitzer Center, and the Mekong-U.S. Partnership.