Patrick Cronin joins a panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' South China Sea conference titled Evolving Security Networks. He examines how the security environment of the South China Sea is responding to the rise of threatening powers such as China. He warns that China is using domestic law and coercion to undermine the region's stability. The United States is both unwilling and unable to take on the burden of defending the region alone, but Cronin says the US still plays an indispensable role.
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A man walks near the headquarters of the Russian Central Bank in Moscow on February 13, 2026. (Getty Images)