Second, the countries of Southeast Asia are experiencing their own ascension, particularly economically, and are now looking beyond their shores. But there is also a more fundamental factor at work here. These nations, comprised of various democratic and quasi-democratic systems, have for the most part moved away from the troublesome years of nation-building and consolidation, which for so long hampered them from being active players on the regional and international scenes. Southeast Asia is now ready and capable of advancing its claims and rights in the South China Sea.

It is in this context that China and Southeast Asian countries have tried to create facts on the ground. Kaplan correctly notes that both China and various Southeast Asian states have seized disputed shoals, reefs, rocks and elevated areas and built structures and facilities on them. There are fears in Southeast Asia and the West that China might set up an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over parts of the South China Sea, just as it did in the East China Sea in November 2013.