The Mekong issue on ASEAN’s agenda and Vietnam’s middle-power diplomacy

Since Vietnam assumed ASEAN Rotational Chairmanship in 2020, for the first time, the Mekong issue has been put on the association’s agenda. This can be considered a crucial milestone, not only for the Mekong riparian countries but for ASEAN as a ten-member regional community as well. The necessity of re-positioning the Mekong issue on ASEAN’s agenda is not entirely new in both academic and policy-making communities, but perhaps has never been as pressing as it is today due to objective and subjective reasons. Vietnam’s rotational chairmanship of ASEAN has increasingly spurred advocates of discussing the Mekong issue in ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms. Espousing to a comprehensive approach rather than adopting a single International Relations (IR) theory, this paper attempts to shed light on ASEAN’s strategic motivations to raise the Mekong issue on its agenda and concurrently, disentangle the puzzle “why Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship Year is the turning point for the Mekong’s fate” from the perspectives that Hanoi is a key driver. Vietnam is particularly vulnerable to negative impacts of natural and artificial activities on the Mekong River, the country’s furthest downstream. Both the association and Vietnam have legitimate interests to push for the inclusion of the Mekong issue on ASEAN’s agenda. The article implies that Vietnam’s middle-power proactivism is one of the most motivational catalysts for ASEAN’s choice.