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2. The Politics of Environmental Policy with a Himalayan Example
- Author:
- Piers Blaikie and Joshua Muldavin
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- How we arrive at knowledge—and how we draw on knowledge to make policy—have been the subject of vigorous debate and analysis. Simple models of expertise and action are gradually yielding to a more complex vision of how truth speaks to power and power talks back. The Himalayan region—where scientists, statesmen, and citizens confront a unique set of environmental challenges and political legacies—provides a powerful case study. For more than a century, it was believed that over-use by local farmers and pastoralists threatened fragile mountain and river environments. Beginning in the colonial era and continuing into the present, governments have strictly curtailed traditional land-use practices. In the 1980s, scholars began to question the science on which those restrictive laws were based. But new science has not, in most cases, led to new policy. This disconnect inspires questions about the nature of both science and policy, their influence on each other, and whether each could benefit from greater openness to the insights of people who fall outside the narrow roles of expert and politician.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Development
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Australia/Pacific, and Southeast Asia
3. Tourism in a 'Borderless' World: The Singapore Experience
- Author:
- T.C. Chang
- Publication Date:
- 05-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The development of tourist destinations that transcend national borders, first envisioned in the 1950s, gained momentum in the 1990s. Whether facilitated by large regional organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or bilateral agreements, countries—especially smaller ones— have worked to identify and leverage their neighbor's strengths. Singapore, for example, adopted a national tourism plan based on the concept of "borrowed attractiveness." It has compensated for its limited natural resources and high costs by collaborating with Indonesia and Malaysia, which contribute cheaper labor and land in exchange for infrastructure, financing, and expertise. The city-state also aggressively sells its tourism expertise overseas and aspires to be Asia's tourism hub. But Singapore's experience demonstrates that regional tourism, while diversifying tourism development opportunities, can also perpetuate inequities between wealthier and poorer collaborators and present serious challenges to businesses operating in unfamiliar settings.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Development
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Australia/Pacific, Singapore, and Southeast Asia