420 



It is of interest that attention to these matters of regional health, 

 in the management of TVA, resulted in the development of a protocol 

 for reservoir control and other measures that virtually eliminated 

 malaria — formerly endemic — from the region. It is also of interest 

 that medical research is an active and promising part of the program 

 of regional development of the Mekong. For example, progress in 

 research into the etiology of schistosomiasis was reported by a medical 

 research team, October 11, 1971, that identified a transmitting snail 

 on Khong Island, in Laos. 77 



These episodes suggest that a concerted regional approach associated 

 with civil works can stimulate positive medical gains that go well 

 beyond the negative goal of ameliorating adverse impacts of new 

 construction. 



In a broader sense, the policy of the Coordination Committee and 

 its staff appears to be adaptive to the concerns expressed both as to the 

 sociological and the environmental impacts of the Mekong Project. 

 Mohamed Shoaib, an official of the World Bank, has described three 

 of these adaptations (paraphrase) : 



First, the policy now evolving is one of deliberate inerementalism. The largest 

 works are perhaps a decade away, some much further. By raising issues on a 

 smaller scale, on tributary works, a learning process is set in motion for ways 

 to deal with similar problems on larger projects. 



Second, the approach is increasingly pragmatic. An example is the introduction 

 of irrigated farming to farmers unfamiliar with it. Rather than trying to resolve 

 the uncertainties by theoretical speculation or analysis, the Committee is solv- 

 ing them by "learning while doing." This approach lies at the heart of the 

 concept of "Pioneer Projects" which the Committee and the World Bank are 

 promoting. 



Third, "the Committee is giving increasing attention to the problems created 

 by intervening in depth in the subtle equilibria of established eco-systems." Such 

 major problems as water-borne diseases, uncontrolled use of potentially dan- 

 gerous chemicals in fertilizers and pesticides, aquatic weeds, and impact of a 

 "changed river regime on flood-dependent agriculture and fish and salt water 

 fisheries" are all under study. 



Shoaib observed that it could always be shown that the effects of 

 any development would be in part adverse, but that the consequences 

 of economic stagnation were also — demonstrably — adverse. He called 

 for a "meaningful balance between the urgency of development and 

 the demands for conservation . . . through a timely interdisciplinary 

 approach to development planning." 7S 



The Nixon Doctrine and Asian Regionalism : Security Plus Develop- 

 ment 



President Nixon does not appear to have differentiated between eco- 

 nomic regionalism and national security regionalism objectives any 

 more than did President Johnson. The diplomatic goals of an accept- 

 able end to the Vietnamese War, political and economic consolidation 

 of Southeast Asia as a counterbalance to the People's Republic of 

 China, and development of multilateral aid arrangements to reduce 

 U.S. costs, all appear in the Nixon policy as in President Johnson's. 



"Chamlonp Harlnasuta, Santaslrl Sornmani, Viroj Kitlkoon, Curt R. Schneider, Onnhuan 

 Pathamniavong, "Experimental Infection of Aquatic Hydroblid Snails and Laboratory 

 Animals with Schistosoma J<iponicum]\ko Parasites from Khonp Island. Southern Laos," 

 mimeograph from U.S. Agency for International Development (October 11. 1971) 



78 Mohamed Shoaib, "The Development of the Mekong Basin: Problems and Prospects." 

 an address to the Center for International Relations ana Ana Studies of the University of 

 Minnesota, mimeograph from the World Bank (April 29, 1973 I 



