In his latest commentary, “Saving the South China Sea Without Starting World War III,” DKI professor Dr. Van Jackson advocates for stronger U.S. maritime leadership in a region marked by increasing tension.

Jackson writes, “The opaque, low-information nature of the South China Sea creates a permissive environment for many sources of conflict.  When national governments lack real-time awareness of who is doing what and where in the maritime domain, opportunistic actors like China have the ability to exploit it.”

Jackson opines that the South China Sea needs greater operational transparency, and the U.S. is equipped to provide the resources and political capital to increase shared maritime awareness among Southeast Asian states.

The opinion piece is available online at http://nationalinterest.org/feature/saving-the-south-china-sea-without-starting-world-war-iii-15624.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.