China's defiant response to the international judgment against its claims in the South China Sea could draw the Philippines closer to the United States. New Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will need to work closely with the man or woman whom Americans elect this November in the face of China's reaction to the ruling.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling on the South China Sea marks a watershed in Asian maritime history. The decision by the Hague-based international tribunal could ignite tensions leading to war if Beijing responds by behaving as if international law does not matter. It is in China's own interests to act otherwise, as a mature rising power which has a stake in the peaceful evolution of the Asian security order.

On Tuesday, the Hague-based international tribunal concluded that China has no legal basis to claim “historic rights” to islands in the South China Sea and that it has violated the sovereign rights of the Philippines, which had lodged a suit against it in 2013. The tribunal repudiated China's claim to most of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory on the basis of Chinese maps dating back to the 1940s that carry the ubiquitous “nine-dash line”.

In a dramatic gesture intended to refocus China's attention on its relations with Indonesia, President Joko Widodo visited the Natuna Islands recently.

An existential challenge facing the incoming Rodrigo Duterte Administration is to conclude peace talks with National Democratic Front (NDF) communists and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separatists.

If he succeeds, he would move closer to achieving his goal of a new Philippines in which the Malacanang presidential place symbolises an inclusive and healing institution free of the suffocating grip of elite politics that represents the narrow economic interests of an entrenched oligarchy.

At its heart, the British referendum result was a vote against big government, big business and big ideas.

This cautionary message must be heard by those driving regionalism in Asia, particularly the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; free-trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); and the economic direction of countries such as China, Indonesia and India in an age of rampant globalisation.

The British newspaper, The Guardian, recently ran an article on Singapore in its "The story of cities" section. The article acknowledged the extraordinary growth of Singapore's gross national product per capita, the jump in its external trade, the increase in life expectancy and its success with public housing.

But then there is the obligatory indictment of Singapore for being a flawed democracy. "The degree of state power that has enabled such extensive and rapidly executed feats of urban planning has also led to policies that appear to the rest of the world as draconian," the article intoned.

As President Obama prepares to host a summit with ASEAN leaders in Sunnylands, California, next week, Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Asia-Pacific Security Program Director Patrick Cronin and Pereira International CEO Derwin Pereira have written a new commentary for CNAS titled “High Stakes at the Sunnylands Summit.” The commentary is a product of CNAS’ Derwin Pereira Southeast Asian Foreign Policy Roundtables.

The terrorist attack in Jakarta last week achieved little but foretells much. It signifies the renewal of an implacable religious insurgency that could cost Indonesia and the rest of the region dearly.

From the point of view of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has claimed responsibility for the assault, there is hardly anything to boast of. Very few civilians were killed.

American Republican presidential contender Donald Trump’s comments on Muslims reveal the xenophobic underside of politics in the United States. The controversy generated by his call to ban Muslims from entering the country has subsided already, and he would no doubt moderate his views if he got in to power.

However, the political damage has been done to American relations with Asia. Asians would be more comfortable with a mainstream American leader who is responsible and nuanced in his or her response to global events such as the trajectory of Islam or the rise of China. Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton would fit the bill nicely.

Derwin Pereira says as necessary as security is, it is economic integration that truly fosters peace and prosperity in the 21st century.