Laos and the Global Land Rush: Precarious gains and the ongoing strive for state-building

Upland Geopolitics by Michael B. Dwyer aims at updating the debate on state-bulding in Southeast Asia, focusing on north-western Laos against the backdrop of a «global land rush» (2), i.e., the proliferation of transnational land deals across the global South and the rise of China in the political and economic order of the Asia-Pacific region. Dwyer does so by adopting a political ecology perspective apt to show the interrelatedness of nature and politics. Based on decade-long research, the book is articulated in five main chapters each of which focuses on a specific phase in the history of spatial politics in Laos.