The South China Sea Is Shaping To Be The Next Battleground Of The Future

Eighty percent of Japanese and 39 percent of Chinese oil imports pass through the Indian Ocean en route from the Middle East. Chinese firms also have billions of dollars of investments in East Africa, concentrated primarily in the oil and gas, railways and roads, and other mining sectors. Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Robert D. Kaplan, "Asia's Cauldron"/Business Insider: The South China Sea will be the battleground of the future

In this excerpt from "Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea And The End Of A Stable Pacific," author Robert D. Kaplan, chief geopolitical analyst for Stratfor and former member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, explains how the region's unique geography fosters aggression.

The South China Sea functions as the throat of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans — the mass of connective economic tissue where global sea routes coalesce.

Here is the heart of Eurasia’s navigable rimland, punctuated by the Malacca, Sunda, Lombok, and Makassar straits.

Update: Dispute over the South China Sea could put East Asia at war again -- Timo A. Kivimäki, The Conversation

WNU Editor: You have to give credit to the Chinese .... they are thinking strategically while their neighbors are trying to figure out what to do next.