Defensive Realism In South China Sea

In 2016, the world has become exceedingly globalized. Messages can be sent across the world in seconds, and missiles in minutes. Therefore, a conflict in one section of the world can create an international security issue that impacts the entire international system. The South China Sea debacle has been rife with conflict for not only the claimants involved. China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines are all tangled up in a dispute of territorial and jurisdictional claims over a vital and influential expanse of sea. Cooperation has been attempted, but a resolution has yet to be found. The South China Sea issue provides a perfect example of a security dilemma which has arisen as a result of defensive realist motivations taken on by the East Asian states. Defense realism takes a dip away from realism’s central concern with power and shifts it slightly to focus on security. Unlike offensive realists, defensive realists believe that there is fault in having both limited and excessive power. Limited power leaves a state open to possible subjugation, while excessive power risks inciting a balance of power tirade. A defensive realist state’s goal is to maintain security and their status quo within the system. Thus, a …show more content…
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea states that “a country’s jurisdiction over the territorial sovereignty of a State’s extended boundary of 12 nautical miles territorial seas and its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone from their respective continental shelves.” In the case of the South China Sea, this enters into some troublesome waters, as there is clear overlapping of territory between all the parties involved. However, China argues it has strict historical claim over the area, citing that records from Chinese scholars that prove its control over it since back to the Han