Bickering among members of the Mekong River Commission has done nothing to stop the construction of the Xayaburi dam, with the fates of those affected hanging in the balance. Luke Hunt writes.

The peace dividend that came with the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s spawned alliances in unlikely places amid a seismic realignment of international politics. Regional deals were done among countries that politicians had previously only dreamed about; among them was the formation of the Mekong River Commission (MRC).