For years, the South China Sea has been seen as a potential flashpoint in the intensifying geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States.
Southeast Asian states are often presented as the smaller powers caught in the storm.
That picture is changing, however, as a new and subtle security network takes shape across the region.
It's built not around formal alliances but around access deals, missile sales, coast guard drills, intelligence-sharing talks and defense consultations.
On June 1, the Philippines and Vietnam upgraded ties to an enhanced strategic partnership and signed a memorandum on defense cooperation which commits them to high-level exchanges, strategic dialogue, information sharing and joint activities at sea.
