Pak K. Lee

This book examines the South China Sea territorial disputes from the perspective of international order. The authors argue that both China and the US are attempting to impose their respective preferred orders to the region and that the observed disputes are due to the clash of two competing order-building projects. Ordering the maritime space is essential for these two countries to validate their national identities and to achieve ontological security. Because both are ontological security-seeking states, this imperative gives them little room for striking a grand bargain between them. The book focuses on how China and the US engage in practices and discourses that build, contest, and legitimise the two major ordering projects they promote in the region. It concludes that China must act in its legitimation strategy in accordance with contemporary publicly accepted norms and rules to create a legitimate maritime order, while the US should support ASEAN in devising a multilateral resolution of the disputes.

This book examines the South China Sea territorial disputes from the perspective of international order. The authors argue that both China and the US are attempting to impose their respective preferred orders to the region and that the observed disputes are due to the clash of two competing order-building projects. Ordering the maritime space is essential for these two countries to validate their national identities and to achieve ontological security. Because both are ontological security-seeking states, this imperative gives them little room for striking a grand bargain between them. The book focuses on how China and the US engage in practices and discourses that build, contest, and legitimise the two major ordering projects they promote in the region. It concludes that China must act in its legitimation strategy in accordance with contemporary publicly accepted norms and rules to create a legitimate maritime order, while the US should support ASEAN in devising a multilateral resolution of the disputes.

This book focuses on China’s increasing involvement in global governance as a result of the phenomenal rise of its economy and global power. It examines whether and in what ways China is capable of participating in multilateral interactions; if it is willing and able to provide global public goods to address a wide array of global problems; and what impact this would have on both global governance and order. The book provides a comprehensive assessment of China’s increasing influence over how world affairs are being managed; how far China, with increasing clout, interacts with other major powers in global governance, and what the consequences and implications are for the evolving global system and world order. This book is the first to explore China’s engagement with global governance in traditional and new securities.

This book focuses on China’s increasing involvement in global governance as a result of the phenomenal rise of its economy and global power. It examines whether and in what ways China is capable of participating in multilateral interactions; if it is willing and able to provide global public goods to address a wide array of global problems; and what impact this would have on both global governance and order. The book provides a comprehensive assessment of China’s increasing influence over how world affairs are being managed; how far China, with increasing clout, interacts with other major powers in global governance, and what the consequences and implications are for the evolving global system and world order. This book is the first to explore China’s engagement with global governance in traditional and new securities.