ABSTRACT
There is a mounting fear that major-power confrontation may play out in Southeast Asia and spill over into war in the South China Sea. Surely, the intensification of China-US competition, in both the military and economic domains, is a source of some concern. However, the prospects for intentional conflict are overstated: China seeks to advance its goals by means short of war, and the US strategy aims to cooperate where it can but compete where it must. The US goal is a more durable peace, not hostility or cold war. This chapter provides an unofficial American view on the Trump administration’s approach to the South China Sea within its larger “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” vision and relations with other major powers, especially China.
