Caption
An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
Tensions have risen in the South China Sea as China undertakes a campaign to convert reefs into islands among the disputed Spratly Islands. While the U.S. has sent a naval reconnaissance patrol plane over the site, China has asserted territorial claims and reportedly placed artillery on some of the newly created real estate.
On the morning of June 19, Patrick Cronin, Paul Giarra, and Michael Frodl joined Hudson Senior Fellow Seth Cropsey for a discussion on the roots of the current situation, its strategic and commercial implications, and U.S. policy options to balance this challenge to the international order.
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President Donald Trump speaks to the media at the White House on April 11, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
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(Screenshot via YouTube)
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The Hercegovina Bridge along the Pocitelj-Zvirovici subsection of the pan-European Corridor Vc highway, in September. 4, 2024, in Capljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Getty Images)