Author Description

Despite the environmental, human rights and dam safety issues that convinced the Clinton Administration to abstain from the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) project, the United States should reevaluate and pursue a participatory policy in order to confront these troubling issues from inside. Altering or retrofitting current dam construction, incorporating new building techniques and environmental safeguards and implementing resettlement approaches documented by the World Commission of Dams are some of the methods that could be explored cooperatively with the Chinese. Active U.S. participation could increase the role of U.S. businesses in the dam and the development of Chongqing that may become the "center of gravity" for the China's western economic expansion. Only though participatory diplomacy and economic influence can we lessen the environmental and social impacts of building the world's largest hydroelectric dam but also increase economic opportunities for U.S. businesses.