The environment - Energy security nexus: Critical analysis of an energy 'love triangle' in Southeast Asia

Third World Quarterly

Volumn 28, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 539-554

  Simpson, Adam ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CROSS-BORDER RELATIONS; ENERGY USE; EXPORT; IMPORT; SECURITY;

ASIA; EURASIA; LAOS; MYANMAR; SOUTHEAST ASIA; THAILAND;

EID: 34247227459     PISSN: 01436597     EISSN: 13602241     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01436590701192710     Document Type: Article

References (121)

1. I use the terms 'minority/majority' interchangeably with 'North/South'. I find the former terminology more accurate but the latter more widely understood. See T Doyle, Environmental Movements in Majority and Minority Worlds, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005, pp 15-16.
2. See T Doyle & A Simpson, 'Traversing more than speed bumps: Green politics under authoritarian regimes in Burma and Iran', Environmental Politics, 15 (5), 2006, pp 75-752.
3. E Goldsmith, 'Development as colonialism', in J Mander & E Goldsmith (eds), The Case against the Global Economy and for a Turn toward the Local, San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1996, p 257;
4. and Pasuk Phongpaichit & C Baker, '"Business populism" in Thailand', Journal of Democracy, 16 (2), 2005, pp 58-72.
5. For a discussion of these various aspects of human and environmental security, see T Doyle & M Risely (eds), Crucible for Survival: Environmental Security in the Indian Ocean Region, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008 forthcoming.
6. As an example, see the analysis of pork-barrel politics in the large-dam industry in P McCully, Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams, London: Zed Books, 1996, pp 242-262.
7. For various deliberations on this issue, see C Baker, 'Pluto-populism: Thaksin and popular politics', in P Warr (ed), Thailand Beyond the Crisis, London: Routledge Curzon, 2005;
8. CS Greacen & C Greacen, 'Thailand's electricity reforms: Privatization of benefits and socialization of costs and risks', Pacific Affairs 77 (3), 2004, pp 517-541;
9. and A Simpson, 'Downfall? Capitalism, dissent and the media in Thaksin's Thailand', paper presented at the Second Oceanic Conference on International Studies, University of Melbourne, 5 -7 July 2006, available at http://www.politics.unimelb.edu.au/ocis/Simpson.pdf, accessed 23 November 2006.
10. For further analysis of the Thaksin regime and the Thai -Malaysian gas pipeline, see A Simpson, 'Gas pipelines and security in South and Southeast Asia: A critical perspective', in Doyle & Risely (eds), Crucible for Survival.
11. For analysis of the reasons for the 19 September 2006 coup that deposed Thaksin, see the papers by Jory, McCargo and Pattana from a roundtable hosted by the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 12 October 2006, at http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/ events_categorydetails.asp?categoryid=9&eventid=563, accessed 1 November 2006.
12. In 2006 Burma was ranked by Transparency International as equal second worst for corruption out of 163 countries. Corruption Perceptions Index, at http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/ surveys_indices/cpi/2006, accessed 23 November 2006.
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20. and A Simpson, 'Energy security and earth rights in Thailand and Burma', in D Rumley & S Chaturvedi (eds), Energy Security and the Indian Ocean Region, New Delhi: South Asian Publishers, 2005, pp 256-257.
21. For a useful overview of the development of critical security studies, see K Booth (ed), Critical Security Studies and World Politics, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005;
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25. Barnett terms a 'securing of the environment itself' as 'ecological security', which is not the primary concern of this article. Ibid
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29. This concept gained prominence during the Conference on Earth Rights and Responsibilities, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, hosted by Yale Law School, 3 - 5 April 1992. See also K Redford, Co-Founder/Director, Earth Rights International (ERI), interview with the author, ERI Office, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 15 January 2004.
30. The Karen exile, Ka Hsaw Wa, began investigating these linkages after witnessing the massacre of students and democracy activists in Burma in 1988. Ka Hsaw Wa, Co-Founder/Executive Director, ERI, interview with the author, Chiang Mai, 14 January 2004.
31. Greer & Giannini, Earth Rights, p 20.
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37. As an example, a programme it labels as 'rights-based water sharing' is no more than a market-based system of tradable water permits with a focus on pro.table use rather than adequate supply for all, thereby favouring large commercial users. Cornwall & Nyamu-Musembi, 'Putting the "rights-based approach" to development into perspective', p 1427.
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52. and Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Company Ltd (PTTEP), Yadana Project, September 2006, at http://www.pttep.com/en/operations/index.asp?id=23, accessed 23 October 2006. Unocal was acquired by Chevron following a merger agreement in April 2005.
53. Annual per capita usage in Tenasserim Division is roughly 5 kWh, while for Rangoon it is over 550 kWh. Calculations by the author using data from the SPDC published in Thiha Aung, 'Hailing the 58th anniversary Union Day: Taninthayi/Yangon Division marching to a new golden land of unity and amity', New Light of Myanmar, 9, 14 February 2005.
54. Doyle and Simpson, 'Traversing more than speed bumps', p 755.
55. Giannini et al, Total Denial Continues, p 18;
56. and Myint Thein, NLD-LA General Secretary, Burma Lawyers' Council Office, interview with the author, Mae Sod, Thailand, 19 January 2004.
57. Phinan Chotirosseranee, Co-President, Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, interview with the author, Children's Village School, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, 5 October 1998;
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59. Giannini et al, Total Denial Continues, p 146.
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64. Naing Htoo, Programme Coordinator, ERI, interview with the author, Chiang Mai, 10 January 2005.
65. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2000 Report on Labor Practices in Burma,Washington, DC: US Department of Labor, 2000.
66. Doyle & Simpson, 'Traversing more than speed bumps', p 756;
67. Giannini & Friedman, A Report on Forced Labour in Burma, pp 24-27;
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69. ERI, 'Historic advance for universal human rights: Unocal to compensate Burmese villagers', 2 April 2005, at http://www.earthrights.org/, accessed 20 November 2006;
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71. Burma was ranked last in the world in public health expenditure in the 2006 UN Human Development Report.
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74. International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2005/2006, London: IISS, October 2005;
75. and Shwe Gas Movement (SGM), Supply and Command: Natural Gas in Western Burma Set to Entrench Military Rule, Mae Sod, Thailand: SGM, 2006, pp 35-36.
76. Simpson, 'Energy security and earth rights', p 260.
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107. The Salween River is also known upstream in China as the Nujiang or Nu River. The proposed dams in Burma are focused on here but there are also numerous dams planned in China. For a recent report on the Chinese dams, see R Thomas, 'Eyewitness on the Salween', The Irrawaddy, August 2006, at http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=6024&z=102, accessed 4 August 2006.
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119. and Kultida Samabuddhi, 'New call to scrap dams after geologist loses leg', Bangkok Post, 5 May 2006.
120. Soe Myint, Editor and Founder, Mizzima.com, interview with the author, Mizzima Offices, Delhi, 24 December 2004.
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