The mangrove forests of Southeast Asia are highly biodiverse and provide multiple ecosystem services upon which millions of people depend. Mangroves enhance fisheries and coastal protection, and store among the highest densities of carbon of any ecosystem globally. Mangrove forests have experienced extensive deforestation owing to global demand for commodities, and previous studies have identified the expansion of aquaculture as largely responsible. The proportional conversion of mangroves to different land use types has not been systematically quantified across Southeast Asia, however, particularly in recent years. In this study we apply a combined geographic information system and remote sensing method to quantify the key proximate drivers (i.e., replacement land uses) of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2012. Mangrove forests were lost at an average rate of 0.18% per year, which is lower than previously published estimates. In total, more than 100,000 ha of mangroves were removed during the study period, with aquaculture accounting for 30% of this total forest change. The rapid expansion of rice agriculture in Myanmar, and the sustained conversion of mangroves to oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, are identified as additional increasing and under-recognized threats to mangrove ecosystems. Our study highlights frontiers of mangrove deforestation in the border states of Myanmar, on Borneo, and in Indonesian Papua. To implement policies that conserve mangrove forests across Southeast Asia, it is essential to consider the national and subnational variation in the land uses that follow deforestation.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/113/2/344.full.pdf

Rates and drivers of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia, 2000–2012

The Mekong River Basin, site of the biggest inland fishery in the world, is undergoing massive hydropower development. Planned dams will block critical fish migration routes between the river's downstream floodplains and upstream tributaries. Here we estimate fish biomass and biodiversity losses in numerous damming scenarios using a simple ecological model of fish migration. Our framework allows detailing trade-offs between dam locations, power production, and impacts on fish resources. We find that the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity. Our results argue for reassessment of several dams planned, and call for a new regional agreement on tributary development of the Mekong River Basin.

Trading-off Fish Biodiversity, Food Security and Hydropower in the Mekong River Basin

The authors test Kantian and realist theories of interstate conflict using data extending over more than a century, treating those theories as complementary rather than competing. As the classical liberals believed, democracy, economic interdependence, and international organizations have strong and statistically significant effects on reducing the probability that states will be involved in militarized disputes. Moreover, the benefits are not limited to the cold war era. Some realist influences, notably distance and power predominance, also reduce the likelihood of interstate conflict. The character of the international system, too, affects the probability of dyadic disputes. The consequences of having a strong hegemonic power vary, but high levels of democracy and interdependence in the international system reduce the probability of conflict for all dyads, not just for those that are democratic or dependent on trade.

The Kantian Peace: The Pacific Benefits of Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations, 1885-1992

1. Introduction 2. Fear, interest and honor 3. The spirit and its expression 4. The ancient world 5. Medieval Europe 6. From Sun King to Revolution 7. Imperialism and World War I 8. World War II 9. Hitler to Bush and beyond 10. General findings and conclusions.

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A Cultural Theory of International Relations

Authoritarian environmentalism is a non-participatory approach to public policy-making and implementation in the face of severe environmental challenges. Using the case of China's climate change policy, the meaning, causes, and consequences of authoritarian environmentalism are explored. A key finding is that authoritarian environmentalism is more effective in producing policy outputs than outcomes. Theoretical and policy implications follow.

https://people.uwec.edu/jamelsem/papers/CC_Literature_Web_Share/Policy/CC_Authoritarian_Environmentalism_China_Gilley_2012.pdf

Authoritarian environmentalism and China's response to climate change

An Australian perspective on a transitional period in Myanmar: May 2000-May 2002

Most observers agree that international business must play a large role in Myanmar’s economic transformation, but there is not yet a consensus on how this should occur. Should additional obligations be placed on international firms over and above compliance with any (voluntary) international codes of conduct under the United Nations or the OECD? How much corporate social responsibility should companies practice if and when they enter Myanmar? Are there effective ways of getting better business behaviour in a ‘regulation free zone’ like Myanmar, or will market-driven international companies inevitably be able exploit loopholes in Myanmar laws?

Why Corporate Behaviour is under Scrutiny in Myanmar

Moscow: August, 1957

Foreign ministries the world over have many similar features, but they all differ significantly in their operational and staffing needs from their domestic ministry counterparts. Their essential work is the management of all aspects of bilateral relations between countries; they are also deeply involved in the activities of multilateral organisations and are routinely called upon to respond to unpredictable international events over which they have little or no control. At the high policy level, the subject matter of their work ranges from trade and security to human rights and the environment. For most of these pursuits, foreign ministries function according to international rules that are often also the subject of domestic laws to enforce them. At the other end of their responsibilities are the travel-related consular and passport services so much in demand in this age of globalisation. In this period, international events assumed much greater immediacy for domestic policy-makers, thanks mainly to the enormous improvements in communications which brought international events into the home more than ever before. For a variety of reasons, therefore, those running diplomacy need to be keenly aware of both the international environment in which they operate as well as domestic circumstances and implications. Presiding over the institution that manages a country’s international relations on a daily basis is, therefore, no small task.

Prologue - Steady hands needed for turbulent times - the DFAT Secretaries 1979-99

/pdf/introduction-to-alexandre-kojeve-on-creative-freedom-and-3k7bhq24.pdf

Trevor Wilson

Papers

An Australian perspective on a transitional period in Myanmar: May 2000-May 2002

Why Corporate Behaviour is under Scrutiny in Myanmar

Moscow: August, 1957

Prologue - Steady hands needed for turbulent times - the DFAT Secretaries 1979-99

Introduction to Alexandre Kojève, “On Creative Freedom and Souls’ Fabrication. Response to Professor N. A. Berdyaev.”