Book Review: Christopher Daniels. 2013. South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflict
| Published date | 01 December 2014 |
| Author | Benjamin Alexander Hale |
| DOI | 10.1177/2347797014551270 |
| Date | 01 December 2014 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Christopher Daniels. 2013. South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflict.
Plymouth, UK: The Scarecrow Press. 153 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8108-8645-2
South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflict by Christopher Daniels is repre-
sentative of a new wave of literature (ranging from Ramo’s The Beijing Consensus
(2004) to Erickson’s China, the United States, and 21st-century Sea Power:
Defining a Maritime Security Partnership) and concerned with examining the eco-
nomic rise of China and its corresponding drive for securing resources. Despite the
potentially devastating consequences of the South China Sea dispute for the world
economy, the issues and historical complexities surrounding the dispute are under-
stood by few. In South China Sea: Energy and Security Conflict, Daniels sets out
to demystify the core causes of this conflict through a historically based examina-
tion of the territorial claims, economic drivers and energy needs of those countries
involved. In doing so, the author addresses a number of themes ranging from the
economic growth of China and its new status as a regional military hegemon, to
energy security and the potential fallout of a full-scale military confrontation.
However, the author’s heavy reliance on secondary sources and simplistic cen-
tral premise that the dispute is driven by the twofold desire to enhance oil security
and exploit the region’s energy resources has resulted in a text which is heavily
indebted to the work of previous authors such as Andrew Erickson, David Scott
and Robert Sutter. In addition, although the author manages to draw from a wide
range of sources ranging from academic journals and newspapers to websites,
global institutions and economic forum papers, he draws overwhelmingly from
Western sources, especially those published in the USA. Furthermore, Daniels
derives much information about SCS resources from the quarterly reports of busi-
ness papers such as Business Monitor and Oxford Business Group, which have a
clear pro-Western bias, and draws throughout on The World Factbook, a website
run by the CIA. Thus, although the author sets out to comprehensively examine
the issues surrounding the South China Sea dispute, the real merit of the text lies
in its successful synthesis of previous Western analyses of the conflict.
The book begins with an outline of the background and history of the South
China Sea dispute, detailing the dimensions of the South China Sea, its impor-
tance as a shipping transit route, the various claims and claimants, and the legal
Journal of Asian Security
and International Affairs
1(3) 347–357
2014 SAGE Publications India
Private Limited
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/2347797014551270
http://aia.sagepub.com
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