The South China Sea

Catalog description

The South China Sea (SCS) is a vitally important region for the entire world. More than half of the world's fishing vessels are in the SCS. Hundreds of millions depend on these waters for their food, while billions more rely on the shipping trade that criss-crosses the region. The SCS is also ecologically important, replete with rapidly deteriorating coral reefs in urgent need of protection. Yet despite the socio-political institutions built to maintain order, the SCS has been militarized in recent decades, especially as a rising People's Republic of China (PRC) asserts and enforces territorial claims while contravening international norms and laws. With today's new era of Great Power Competition as a backdrop, we will explore the history of the SCS and how international maritime law has evolved there. We will learn why the nations surrounding this region value it so much, and how the PRC has used "gray zone" tactics to expand its claims of jurisdiction. We will evaluate how regional and global bodies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations are responding to repeated violations of the so-called "rules-based order," and what the future of the SCS might look like. Supported by the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation and its wealth of resources and experts, we will evaluate the conflicts of the SCS through the lens of international security. Each meeting will begin with a "SCS in the news," followed by a guest speaker and student-discussion. To apply for enrollment, please fill out this brief application form: https://forms.gle/SobRfbicgdmEKVRB7. If selected, you will receive an enrollment permission code.