For China, the nine-dash line is a strategic tool for reaffirming the controversial maritime claim in the South China Sea. This grey zone between international law and state power is not merely a regional territorial issue but an enhanced test of international order's stability. Illustration by The Geostrata In this era of national interest and frequent conflicts, the significance of international institutions is being critiqued for their effectiveness. UNCLOS is one such ins

On a map, they are almost insultingly small. A chain of islands so minute that the eye skips past them, drawn instead to the vast blue nothing surrounding them. But the ocean is not just an empty space. It is a highway. And an island is the only place you can build a tollbooth. And yet these fragments of territory, which are remote, often uninhabited, and ecologically fragile, are among the most contested pieces of land on earth. Empires were built to control them. Treaties h

“The conqueror shall always endeavour to add to his own power and to weaken that of the enemy." - Kautilya, Arthashastra, Book VI In April 2026, the world witnessed another display of unapologetic power when the Dragon decided to cloak the mouth of the Scarborough Shoal with fleeting barriers and ships. What comes as a shock is how this act contradicts the UNCLOS and the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling that the shoal is well within the Philippines' Exclusive Econo

A map drawn as far back as 1947 in Pre-Communist China has, today, become the source of global concerns that are only increasing as China establishes itself close to the helm of contemporary geopolitics. Illustration by The Geostrata Such is the story of origins of the 9-dash line which initially started out with 11 dashes, only for China to give the Gulf of Tonkin to Vietnam hence, forfeiting two dashes. The South China Sea is visualised by China such that it asserts “histo

Since the 1950s, the South China Sea has been an extremely political and volatile source of conflict in maritime security. Occasionally,...

The Pacific has emerged as a crucial geopolitical arena, underscored by the escalating rivalry among global powers. Within this complex...

The Taiwan Island, which has a population of about 24 million, is located approximately one hundred miles off south-east China’s...

India and China are leading powers in Asia, trying to outmanoeuvre each other. China's recent ascent to prominence as a global force has...

The United States is one of the largest nations in the world, holding great geostrategic importance and maritime dominance since it has...

Game theory deals with interdependent situations and rational actors and how they make choices, understanding the subsequent...