Suggested Citation: Suhardiman, D., Giodarno, M. and F. Molle 2012, ‘Scalar disconnect: The logic of transboundary water governance in the Mekong’, GWF Discussion Paper 1234, Global Water Forum, Canberra, Australia. Available online at: http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2012/09/11/scalardisconnectthelogicoftransboundarywatergovernanceinthemekong/. Based on Suhardiman, D., Giodarno, M. and F. Molle 2012, ‘Scalar disconnect: The logic of transboundary water governance in the Mekong’, Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal 25(6): 572586, DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2011.604398. Scalar disconnect: The logic of transboundary water governance in the Mekong Diana Suhardiman 1 , Mark Giodarno 2 , Francois Molle 3 International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Vientiane, Laos 1 , IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka 2 , IWMI, Cairo, Egypt, and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement. Montpellier, France 3 Discussion Paper 1234 September 2012 This article provides an institutional analysis of the Mekong River Commission and brings to light the institutional dissonances between regional and national decisionmaking landscapes in the Lower Mekong Basin. The current scalar disconnect between decisionmaking processes reflects how international donors and member country representatives obscure potential conflicttension in regional transboundary water governance. From a scholarly perspective, it questions approaches wherein the state is assumed to be the sole or primary actor in international relations. The Global Water Forum publishes a series of discussion papers to share the insights and knowledge contained within our online articles. The articles are contributed by experts in the field and provide original academic research; unique, informed insights and arguments; evaluations of water policies and projects; as well as concise overviews and explanations of complex topics. We encourage our readers to engage in discussion with our contributing authors through the GWF website. Keywords: Mekong River Commission, Mekong River, Transboundary water governance; institutions. This article provides an institutional analysis of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and highlights the institutional dissonance between regional and national decision- making landscapes in the Lower Mekong Basin. It questions the theoretical underpinnings of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) concepts and brings to light the issue of bureaucratic competition and fragmentation in transboundary water governance. Institutional challenges to apply IWRM persist globally along with criticisms of its theoretical underpinnings. 1 At the national level, the need for integration is argued under the premise of cross-sectoral or inter- ministerial coordination regardless of how key ministries perceive this integration. Within