The South China Sea and Energy Security

What is it about?

The aim of this article is to assess Malaysia’s approach to the presence of the U.S., and China in the South China Sea. Malaysia’s strategy is directed at avoiding being entwined in big power rivalry. However, reality dictates that regional powers, such as Malaysia, have to carefully strategize their links with larger powers in order to secure their rights over the natural resources that are available there, as well as to prevent the militariza- tion of energy security. The hypothesis of this article is that the re-orientation of the re-militarization of energy security in the South China Sea has changed the geopoliti- cal motives of the players, mainly the U.S., and China, to a neoclassical realist forward approach. We conclude that Malaysia’s “hedging” role in the South China Sea is moti- vated by the potential conflict for hegemony and energy security between the U.S. and China. Keywords Neoclassical realism – geopolitical reconfigurations – energy security – South China Sea – hedging

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Why is it important?

The South China Sea has become a very contested region for powers such as the United States, China, India and other smaller powers.