CNAS Flashpoints: Three Essays on the East and South China Seas

CNAS Flashpoints Portal

Washington, May 3, 2012 — The Center for a New American Security released today three bulletins as part of its Flashpoints portal, a comprehensive, interactive research tool on the East and South China Seas. As disputes, competition and proposals for cooperation increase in this crucial maritime domain, the Flashpoints portal provides an authoritative source of information on security in the East and South China Seas.
Click here to access the CNAS Flashpoints portal.

Defending the Philippines: Military Modernization and the Challenges Ahead looks at the impact of China's increasing belligerence in the South China Sea on the decision of Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to improve Philippine military capabilities. Author Richard D. Fisher, Jr., Senior Fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, argues that given the political and economic stakes in the region, the United States now has a strategic interest in the success of Philippine military modernization. Download Defending the Philippines here.

In Don't Forget About the East China Sea, Michael Auslin, resident scholar in Asian and security studies at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that the East China Sea may in fact be the most strategic location in all of Asia. Auslin writes that disruption of free navigation in the East China Sea would affect the economies of China, Japan and South Korea and could have significant implications for the number of military forces that the United States has stationed in Asia. Download Don't Forget About the East China Sea here.

Studying the South China Sea: The Chinese Perspective, by Yun Sun, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies and former China analyst for the International Crisis Group's Northeast Asia Project, examines three key features of the current research by the Chinese policy community on the South China Sea and highlights the work of four leading research institutions and studies on the issue. Download Studying the South China Sea here.

CNAS will continue to regularly release bulletins on topics related to the East and South China Seas through the portal. In addition, the Flashpoints portal provides access to continuously updated information on incidents and events through its comprehensive map and timeline. These resources depict dozens of events of record that have occurred since the mid-1950s in the increasingly important East and South China Seas.

The portal also includes an up-to-date research tool to help scholars and policymakers find critical information on the East and South China Seas, including background reading, key organizations, maps and images, news items, new developments, publications and official documents.

Flashpoints, which is underwritten in large part by the Smith Richardson Foundation, is a project within the Asia-Pacific Security Program of CNAS.

Stay up to date on all CNAS news and events by following @CNASdc on Twitter and visiting us on Facebook.

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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.

Press Contact:

Sara Conneighton
Deputy Director of External Relations
Email: sconneighton@cnas.org
Ph: (202) 457-9429
Follow @saraconneighton on Twitter