Publication

This brief argues that the disputants over the Spratly Islands need to create confidence building measures that go beyond the conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Code of Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). Establishing a Regional Naval Forum, for example, could help avoid dangerous incidents between claimant navies and enhance crisis management. For this option to work, however, China will have to start the process of peacemaking in the Spratlys.