The South China Sea

The history of the South China Sea is a catalyst of international cooperation and conflict. Security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific is largely governed by command of these strategic waters. More than half of global shipping transits the South China Sea, which also holds significant reserves of oil, gas and minerals as well as some of the largest fisheries in the world. Drawing on a team of field-leading researchers, Jenner and Thuy provide an empirical study of the global ocean's most contested sea space. The volume's four parts offer an insightful analysis of the significance of the South China Sea to the international order; sub-national agents of influence on relations between states; the disputes over sovereignty through the analytical prism of international law; and the conflictful region's prospects. The primary source-based conclusion elucidates the agency of history and strategy in the South China Sea.Introduction: sovereignty-based conflict or regional cooperation? Tran Truong Thuy; Part I. Global Dimensions: 1. The global significance of the South China Sea dispute Geoffrey Till; 2. Global issues and national interests in the South China Sea Rodolfo C. Severino; 3. The Obama administration's strategic rebalancing in Asia: from a diplomatic to a strategic constrainment of an emergent China? Renato Cruz De Castro; 4. The South China Sea and the 'Thucydides trap' Mark J. Valencia; Part II. Sub-National, National and Regional Interests: 5. Continuity and change in the South China Sea Alice Ba and Ian Storey; 6. Understanding the evolution of US-China-ASEAN relations: a US perspective Bonnie Glaser; 7. India and the South China Sea Vijay Sakhuja; 8. Domestic politics: the overlooked undercurrent in the South China Sea C. J. Jenner and Nguyen Hung Son; Part III. International Maritime Law: 9. The Tonkin Gulf Agreements: a model of conflict resolution? Stein Tonnesson; 10. UNCLOS and maritime security in the South China Sea Nguyen Thi Lan Anh; 11. Straight baselines around insular formations not constituting an archipelagic state Erik Franckx and Marco Benatar; 12. Disputed areas in the South China Sea: prospects for arbitration or advisory opinion Robert C. Beckman and Leonardo Bernard; Part IV. Towards Conflict or Cooperation: 13. China's naval modernisation and US strategic rebalancing: implications for stability in the South China Sea Carlyle A. Thayer; 14. Sino-American rivalry in the South China Sea: is it time to form a maritime middle power cooperative? C. J. Jenner and Sukjoon Yoon; 15. Regional cooperation in the South China Sea Jon M. Van Dyke; 16. Fishery disputes and regional cooperation Kuan-Hsiung Wang; Conclusion: history, strategy and the South China Sea C. J. Jenner; Index.