Bounding Maritime Power in the South China Sea: The Influence of Maritime Diplomacy on the United States of Americas Relations with the Peoples Republic of China, 1949-1996
Abstract
BOUNDING MARITIME POWER IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEAThe Influence of Maritime Diplomacy on the United States of Americas Relations with the Peoples Republic of China, 1949-1996ObjectiveThe governing objective of this research project is the publication via a leading san relations. The work will produce the first account of how, when, and why changes in Beijings and Washingtons relative maritimepower conditioned the conception and conduct of the USAs maritime diplomacy towards the PRC, and thereby changed the course of themost important bilateral relationship in the world today. Maritime diplomacy is the use of maritime power to support, persuade, deter, or compel. Maritime power is the ability to apply maritime capabilities at and from the sea to influence the behaviour of policy makers and military commanders and the course of international relations.AimEast-West seaborne trade generates global wealth. A nations maritime power reflects its economic power and influence. Consequently, a preponderant power typically strives to commandthe East-West joining South China Sea and its Malacca, Sunda, Lombok, and Makassar straits: Chinese (Sung 960-1279, Yuan 1279-1368,and Ming 1368-1644), Iberian (1511-1640), Dutch (1640-1780), British (1780-1942), and American (1945-).* Albeit temporarily, the country holding the prestige of command in the South China Sea has often steered the course of history in the Indo-Pacific. Since the era of John Selden (1584-1654) and Huig de Groot (1583-1645), preponderant and rising sea powers have struggled via maritime diplomacy, cartographic competition, and juridical lawfare to realise perceived sovereignty rights.** According to Admiral Philip Davidson,the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific, China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States.*** Why and how did China retake command of the South China Sea? Based on a unique evidential base comprised of American, Chinese, and South-East Asian primary sources, the project will conduct the first comprehensive comparativeinvestigation of change in command in this globally influential semi-enclosed sea. An innovative empirical research method incorporating Area Studies, Modern History, and International Relations will enable interdisciplinary interrogation of primary source outputs from recorded interviews with governmental officials and military officers, three track 1.5 workshops combining academics and practitioners, and original archival work in the PRC, USA, and South-East Asia. The course and character of the twenty-first century is likely to be defined in large part by the winner of the contest for preponderance in the South China Sea. Elucidating the epochal change in command realised by Sino-American maritime power and diplomacy is the governing aim of this path-breaking research project. * Lo J. P., China as a Sea Power, 1127-1368: A Preliminary Survey of the Maritime Expansion and Naval Exploits of the Chinese People During the Southern Sung and Yuan Periods, ed., B. A. Elleman (Singapore, 2012), pp. 342-43; Mahan, A. T., The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (Louisiana, [1890] 2003). ** Kittrie, O., Lawfare: Law as a Weapon of War (Oxford, 2016); Bederman,D., The Sea, in Fassbender, B., and A59- 378; Kratoska, P. H., R. Raben, and H. S. Nordholt, Locating Southeast Asia: Geographies of Knowledge and Politics of Space (Singapore, 2005).*** Senate Armed Services Committee, Unclassified, Advance Policy Questions for Admiral Philip Davidson, USN Expected Nominee for Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (17 April 2018), p. 18.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 05, 2021
- Source ID
- N629092112023
Entities
People
- Christopher Jenner
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Oxford