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Abstract
This article provides a comparative analysis of the challenges of balancing economic liberalization and environmental protection in two small South Asian states: Bhutan and the Maldives. It examines how these two countries, both heavily reliant on their unique and fragile natural environments, were navigating the pressures of globalization and market-oriented development. The study explores Bhutan's cautious approach, guided by its unique development philosophy of "Gross National Happiness," which prioritizes environmental conservation and cultural preservation. This is contrasted with the challenges facing the Maldives, where the booming tourism industry, the engine of its economy, was placing immense pressure on its fragile coral reef and marine ecosystems. The paper argues that for small, ecologically vulnerable states, sustainable development is not a choice but a necessity. The analysis concludes by drawing lessons from their experiences for other small states grappling with the often-conflicting demands of economic growth and environmental sustainability.
Full Text
Small states, particularly those with fragile ecosystems, face a unique set of challenges in the era of economic liberalization. This paper offers a comparative case study of Bhutan and the Maldives, two small South Asian nations with vastly different geographies but a shared reliance on their natural environment. The first part of the study focuses on Bhutan. It details the country's unique development model, which explicitly rejects the conventional GDP-centric approach to growth. The analysis examines Bhutan's policies on "high-value, low-impact" tourism and its constitutional mandate to maintain a high degree of forest cover, presenting it as a pioneering case of state-led sustainable development. The second part of the paper turns to the Maldives. It analyzes the spectacular growth of the Maldivian economy, driven almost entirely by luxury tourism. The study then explores the environmental costs of this success, from the degradation of coral reefs and the problem of waste management to the existential threat posed by global climate change and sea-level rise. The findings from this comparative analysis highlight a crucial dilemma: how to pursue the economic benefits of globalization without destroying the very environmental assets upon which that prosperity depends. The paper concludes that the experiences of Bhutan and the Maldives offer important, though different, lessons in the global search for a more sustainable model of development.