Security regionalism: a new form of strategic competition or cooperation between the United States and China in the South China Sea?

This chapter examines the imperative, driving forces, and limits of Asian security regionalism, and in particular the complex relationship between the US-led alliance and regionalism as well as the conflictive relationship between the Chinese national approach and security regionalism. It also examines the contestations of security regionalism in Asia, presenting both the arguments for and/or against security regionalism. This chapter starts with an examination of various arguments for why Asia needs security regionalism in the SCS, but ends with a discussion on the obstacles facing the emergence of security regionalism. Throughout the chapter, critical realism grounds the discussion in real geopolitics with a critical eye. It raises an important question of security regionalism cooperation as a part of great power management between China and the United States.