Milton Osborne

Milton Osborne

Independent scholar

Dr Milton Osborne is an independent writer and consultant on Southeast Asian issues with particular reference to the Mekong region. He has been associated with this region since 1959 when he first went to Cambodia as a young Australian diplomat. Subsequently he held academic positions in both Australia and overseas and was a senior official in The Australian government’s Office of National Assessments. He is the author of eleven books on the history and polities of Southeast Asia, including ’The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future’, and 'Southeast Asia: An Introductory history’, now in its 12th edition.

The Mekong River at Sangkhom district in the northeastern Thai province of Nong Khai, with Laos seen on the right. The once mighty Mekong River has been reduced to a thin, grubby neck of water across Northern Thailand - record lows blamed on drought and a recently opened dam hundreds of kilometers upstream. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP)
Society

The Mekong River’s future and the role of China

By Milton Osborne 15 Jan 2020
The Mekong river is ecologically rich, and a source of life in more ways than one. However, its system is being threatened by the construction of dams by China. Independent scholar Milton Osborne examines the impact of human activity on the Mekong delta.