ABSTRACT
Chapters 3 and 4 examined the geopolitical considerations involved in the territorial maritime disputes of the East and South China seas. The two chapters analyzed whether the actual impact of the geopolitical attributes could be divided into escalating, neutralizing, and de-escalating factors. While the previous chapters discussed the geopolitical considerations separately, this chapter seeks to go beyond their coexistence by investigating how they have interacted with one another in the post-Cold War era. It specifically focuses on the interplay of the geopolitical considerations and explores how this interaction might lead to a rapid and dangerous escalation of a maritime territorial dispute. In that sense, it considers at what stage or given what conditions the interplay of the geopolitical factors becomes an escalation problem and why. The chapter also analyzes how the interaction of geopolitical attributes can arguably defuse tensions. Having discussed the East and South China seas separately, it concludes by reviving comparatively the interplay of the geopolitical attributes in the two case studies.
