CNAS Experts Cronin and Kaplan: South China Sea Strategic Bellwether For U.S. Leadership in Asia-Pacific

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.