“Seamlessly connects geography, history and great power intrigue across the entire Indo-Pacific region, increasingly the fulcrum of world history.” ―James Clad, Director, Asian Security Programs at the American Foreign Policy Council In the sphere of future global politics, no region will be as hotly contested as the Asia-Pacific, where great power interests collide amid the mistrust of unresolved conflicts and disputed territory. This is where authoritarian China is trying to rewrite international law and challenge the democratic values of the United States and its allies. The lightning rods of conflict are remote reefs and islands from which China has created military bases in the 1.5-million-square-mile expanse of the South China Sea, a crucial world trading route that this rising world power now claims as its own. No other Asian country can take on China alone. In Asian Waters , award–winning foreign correspondent Humphrey Hawksley breaks down the politics―and tensions―that he has followed through this region for years. Reporting on decades of political developments, he has witnessed China's rise to become one of the world's most wealthy and militarized countries, and delivers in Asian Waters the compelling narrative of this most volatile region. Can the United States and China handle the changing balance of power peacefully? Do Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan share enough common purpose to create a NATO-esque multilateral alliance? Does China think it can even become a superpower while making an enemy of America? If so, how does it plan to achieve it? Asian Waters delves into these topics and more as Hawksley presents the most comprehensive and accessible analysis ever of this region. “[ Asian Waters ] provides a clear introduction to the subject of Chinese efforts to expand the country’s sovereignty into the islands of the South China Sea. . . . This volume is informative and thought provoking and will be of interest to anyone interested in Asia, contemporary affairs, national security issues, and foreign policy.” - Publishers Weekly “A vivid and highly readable guide to one of the great flash points of the 21st century.” - Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times “In Asian Waters , Hawksley's latest and his best book to date . . . more than just an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the region awaits the reader. . . . For both students and practitioners of foreign policy, his book is a must read.” - Harlan Ullman, United Press International “Hawksley has a knack for delivering pointed arguments and parallels amid a concise array of key historical events.” - Susan Froetschel, YaleGlobal Online “ Asian Waters . . . recently became my ideal travel companion on a long flight to Australia, en route to the South China Sea. For any other reader hoping to navigate those troubled waters, or seeking a broad overview of the geopolitical fault lines in Asia, Hawksley’s book provides an excellent guide.” - Jonas Parello-Plesner, The American Interest “Day by day the inherent tension between Chinese strategic ambition, American desire to rule the waves, Asian neighbors' territorial claims and the panoply of international law and conventions moves closer to snapping point. The South China Sea is the place where the legacies of the 20th century come smack into confrontation with the new realities of the 21st. Asian Waters deserves to be widely read and debated, all over the world.” - Bill Emmott, Former Editor of The Economist, author of The Rivals: How the Power Struggle between China, India, and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade “With his solid, on-the-ground experience and incisive analysis derived from decades of first rate reportage, Humphrey Hawksley provides new ways of seeing and understanding the shifting balance of world power, a change of monumental significance for this century. Asian Waters seamlessly connects geography, history and great power intrigue across the entire Indo-Pacific region, increasingly the fulcrum of world history. His conclusions are surprising and often disturbing, but always based on the evidence. This book is a must-read.” - James Clad, Director, Asian Security Programs at the American Foreign Policy Council, Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia Pacific Security Affairs “Humphrey Hawksley spent decades in Asia’s many trouble spots. In Asian Waters , he now focuses his immense skills at forensic political analysis to dissect 21st century Asia’s latest trouble spot, the South China Sea, where a rising and increasingly assertive China questions the international order based on the rule of law. A fascinating read.” - Hardeep Puri, Indian Minister for Development and Former Indian Ambassador to the United Nations “A readable and very well-informed guide to an area of real tension in the early decades of this century.” - Baron Lord Patten of Barnes, the Last Governor of Ho