South China Sea - (Global Flashpoints: A) by Christopher L Daniels (Hardcover)

About the Book

South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflicts takes on such troubling questions as the impact of this conflict on global oil and gas prices; China's growth both economically and as a regional military hegemon; and the recent, often rocky, international efforts to mediate the ...

Book Synopsis

In South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflicts, foreign policy analyst Christopher L. Daniels analyzes the core causes of the dispute over territorial claims in the South China Sea, which separates some of the world's fastest-growing economies. Starting with the question of access to the billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas presently thought to lie beneath the region's territorial waters and islands, Daniels considers the race for resources and military dominancy along with the rapidly increasing domestic demand for electricity and industrial output of the regional players.

South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflicts takes on such troubling questions as the impact of this conflict on global oil and gas prices; China's growth both economically and as a regional military hegemon; and the recent, often rocky, international efforts to mediate the conflict. In addition to policy recommendations for peaceful resolutions to this emerging international challenge, the book includes maps, graphs, primary sources, and overviews of key players--individual and institutional--in what may well be the next great conflict in East Asia.

This work is ideal for scholars and students, researchers and diplomatic professionals, military officers and energy traders, and anyone interested in the energy and security politics of East Asia

Review Quotes

"Daniels provides a straightforward, accessible primer to the potentially most explosive area in Asia-the South China Sea. Seven countries (China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Brunei) put forth competing claims to all or to part of the sea and its seabed. China, with its energy needs and a more nationalistic stance, has asserted a commanding control over the region to gain access to the oil and natural gas reserves under the sea. Daniels finds the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea outdated and ineffective in dealing with the potential conflicts in the South China Sea. While he notes the US has refrained from taking sides, he urges the US to use its influence to affect a peaceful resolution to the rising conflicts among these parties. Complete with a timeline of key events, leaders, and institutions; the texts of international treaties on the issue, maps, and an extensive bibliography. A specialized work, but one of value in light of the potential for geopolitical conflicts in the coming decade. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." --Choice Reviews

"South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflicts is a valuable hand book on the causes of the dispute over territorial claims in the South China Sea. . . .There is a great need for books like Professor Daniel's to shed light on China's plans for geopolitical and geostrategic influence in the seas to the Chinese mainland." --Center for Research on Geopolitics

Daniels provides a straightforward, accessible primer to the potentially most explosive area in Asia-the South China Sea. Seven countries (China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Brunei) put forth competing claims to all or to part of the sea and its seabed. China, with its energy needs and a more nationalistic stance, has asserted a commanding control over the region to gain access to the oil and natural gas reserves under the sea. Daniels finds the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea outdated and ineffective in dealing with the potential conflicts in the South China Sea. While he notes the US has refrained from taking sides, he urges the US to use its influence to affect a peaceful resolution to the rising conflicts among these parties. Complete with a timeline of key events, leaders, and institutions; the texts of international treaties on the issue, maps, and an extensive bibliography. A specialized work, but one of value in light of the potential for geopolitical conflicts in the coming decade. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflicts is a valuable hand book on the causes of the dispute over territorial claims in the South China Sea. . . .There is a great need for books like Professor Daniel's to shed light on China's plans for geopolitical and geostrategic influence in the seas to the Chinese mainland.

About the Author

Christopher L. Daniels is a professor of political science at Florida A&M University with an appointment to its Center for Global Security and International Affairs. He was a professor at Georgetown University and is the author of Somali Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa (Scarecrow Press, 2012).