The environment – Energy security nexus: critical analysis of an energy ‘love triangle’ in Southeast Asia

Rethinking energy, climate and security: a critical analysis of energy security in the US

“…Simpson draws on critical theory to provide an important ethical focus, in a study of large-scale energy projects in Southeast Asia. He notes that Ôwhile the discourse of national energy security is employed by dominant interests, the environmental security of the local communities can be severely undermined by a project but is rarely consideredÕ (Simpson 2007(Simpson : 540, 2014. Although his work focuses on energy inequality, it has important implications for understanding the concept of energy security more broadly Ð particularly for problematising the referent object of energy security and the centrality of the state in dominant energy security discourses.…”

The Politics of Marketising Asia

“…3 Importantly, however, much of the indirect assistance that does flow from the ADB relates to proposed "economic corridors" including the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) and the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC), GMS "Flagship Initiatives" that have the stated aims of facilitating trade and investment and reducing poverty across Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (Asian Development Bank 2010bBank , 2010c. The ADB's focus on these corridors continues its traditional emphasis in the region on large-scale integrative infrastructure projects, including the contentious Nam Theun 2 (NT2) Dam in Laos (Simpson 2007;Singh 2009). The focus on these integrative projects, along with recent political events, suggests significant room for growth in the ADB's work in Myanmar.…”

“…The first group, comprised of ethnic villagers, currently faces risks of increased insecurities due to major projects that are undertaken with the involvement of TNCs from China and elsewhere in Asia with little or no social or environmental assessment. These insecurities include serious risks such as forced labour, systematic rape and sexual assault, land confiscation, summary execution and torture (Lintner 1999;Smith 1999;Doyle and Simpson 2006;KWO 2007;Simpson 2007;AAPPB 2011). Although forced labour has historically been ubiquitous on major projects in ethnic areas, as noted above there have been no reports to the ILO of forced labour in the EWEC corridor.…”

A critical stakeholder analysis of the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline (TAGP) Network

“…ASEAN, in other words, has sponsored the project on the grounds that it is in the public interest. However, large-scale energy projects often bring with them a host of unintentional (and often invisible) negative costs and externalities that only become apparent after the fact (Sovacool, 2008;Simpson, 2007;Greacen and Greacen, 2004;World Commission on Dams, 2000). By investigating the associated power relationships with the TAGP, this article provides insight into its costs and benefits as well as the potential tensions between private and public interests.…”