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tive to insurgency, offers an ideological bridge, and teaches different 

 ethnic groups how to work together — it might well be more useful 

 than a project yielding high economic return but without these in- 

 tangible benefits. There is, of course, no hard evidence that all these 

 favorable outcomes are a likely product of a global policy of regional- 

 ism. However, the bare possibility — as evidenced in what has been 

 called "the Mekong Spirit" — that the concept might serve as an instru- 

 ment of long-range diplomacy seems worth further examination and 

 putting to the test. 



