Book Review: Order, Contestation and Ontological Security-Seeking in the South China Sea

The importance of the South China Sea in the maritime security of Southeast Asia as well as the geopolitical stability of the Asia Pacific region has generated an extensive literature in the past decade. In adding to this volume of work, Anisa Heritage and Pak K. Lee spare no time to make clear what their book, titled “Order, Contestation and Ontological Security-Seeking in the South China Sea”, is and is not about. The book does not study the transformation of the territorial and maritime disputes among claimant states, but rather examines the South China Sea as a site of confrontation between two major powers—China and the United States. While this focus echoes a host of recent studies on power politics in the South China Sea disputes, its approach through the lens of international order-building and ontological security-seeking offers some noteworthy insights into state behaviors in the international system. The first two chapters lay out the main argument and theoretical framework, particularly explicating some key concepts and their interrelationships. Here, the setting of international order, defined as a hierarchical political formation by member states of unequal power and status, hinges on the creation, social recognition and institutionalization of rules and arrangements. The concept of “ontological security,” drawn from an emerging literature in both political science and psychology, refers to “the security of self or identity—the subjective sense that enables and motivates action” (p. 12). A state’s ontological security is derived and sustained from its “autobiographical narrative” (e.g., historical memories/myths, predictable routines), and “the perceptions of the social community of which the state is a part of” (p. 36). Based on this theoretical ground, from Chapter Three to Chapter Six, the authors trace the construction of regional order in the Asia Pacific, the formation of national identities, and the legitimation and de-legitimation processes for the post-1945 order-building projects of the U.S. and China. This approach somewhat diverges from conventional accounts of the South China Sea disputes in which the economic and geopolitical significance of the area is often seen as the driving factor for the growing Chinese assertiveness