Center for a New American Security

Cooperation from Strength: The United States, China and the South China Sea

Washington, January 9, 2012 — The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) released today Cooperation from Strength: The United States, China and the South China Sea, a study of the most salient issues affecting American interests in the South China Sea: competition over maritime rights, China's bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, challenges to international law, natural resources and partnership building. 

CNAS also launched an online portal, Flashpoints: Security in the East and South China Seas, which includes a comprehensive map and timeline of significant disputes, overlapping claims and potential flashpoints that will serve as a hub for reliable data and analyses on the East and South China Seas to promote broader international information sharing. The Flashpoints portal also features the first of a series of bulletins authored by voices from the region that will provide timely analysis and information on security issues in the East and South China Seas.

Cooperation from Strength: The United States, China and the South China Sea, edited by CNAS Senior Fellow and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program Patrick M. Cronin, includes six chapters by leading scholars Peter A. Dutton, M. Taylor Fravel, James R. Holmes, Robert D. Kaplan, Will Rogers and Ian Storey. The capstone chapter, authored by Cronin and Kaplan, argues that American interests are increasingly at risk in the South China Sea due to the economic and military rise of China, and that the United States must pursue cooperation from a position of strength.

"The South China Sea will be the strategic bellwether for determining the future of U.S. leadership in the Asia-Pacific region," write Cronin and Kaplan. "A combination of strengthening the U.S. naval presence, promoting nascent security ties among Asian countries outside of traditional U.S. alliances, mobilizing multilateral cooperation on agreed-on rules of the road, building an open regional trading system and forging a realistic partnership with China can best preserve a favorable balance for cooperation."

Download the CNAS report Cooperation from Strength: The United States, China and the South China Sea and visit the online portal  Flashpoints: Security in the East and South China Seas on the CNAS website.

Cronin and Kaplan will discuss the report at a CNAS event on Tuesday, January 10 featuring a keynote address by Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Visit the CNAS LIVE page on January 10 at 9:00 a.m. to watch the live webcast of the event. Share your comments and questions in real time on the CNAS LIVE page and on Twitter @CNASdc #southchinasea.   

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The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent and nonpartisan research institution that develops strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS leads efforts to help inform and prepare the national security leaders of today and tomorrow.