| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The recent heightening of the competition between China and its neighbors
over sovereignty, resources, and security in the South China Sea has drawn
the attention of diplomatic and military leaders from many countries that seek
to promote stability and security in these globally important waters. For states
that ring the South China Sea, its waters represent a zone of rich hydrocarbon
and protein resources that are increasingly dear on land as populations exhaust
their territories' ability to meet their increasing needs. This resource competition alone could be the basis of sharp-edged disputes between the claimants.
However, the South China Sea also represents the projection of the cultural consciousness of the centuries-long relationship that each coastal nation has had
with its adjoining seas. This fact fuels competing modern-day nationalist tendencies among claimant-state populations, tendencies that in turn magnify the
importance of the disputes and, during times of crisis, narrow the options for
quiet negotiation or de-escalation.
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