How Much Risk Should the United States Run in the South China Sea?

Summary

China’s increasingly assertive behavior in the South China Sea suggests that it wants to dominate that critical area of the globe. How should the United States respond? This article presents three policy options: increased military pushback, partial retrenchment to protect U.S. allies, and the current policy, which recognizes that U.S. interests in the area are limited. With this third recommendation, the top goal is to protect regional U.S. credibility.