James Borton in Dispatches from the South China Sea primarily dwells on the interactions between humans and the environment in the South China Sea. Through his journalistic acumen, Borton intricately embarks upon anthropogenic catastrophes such as coral reef destruction, overfishing, illegal annihilation of sovereign territories, evolving environmental refugee crisis (both forced and motivated environmental migration), over-exploitation of resources by China to mention a few.

The role of Indonesia in the South China Sea (SCS) disputes has been limited to being part of the ASEAN team since the country is not one of the active claimants. Jakarta has tried to sidestep its maritime row with Beijing by emphasizing the lack of a “territorial dispute’ between the two countries. The article analyzes the role and position of Indonesia in the SCS disputes and argues that despite Indonesia’s reluctance to be an active or direct claimant state, developments in recent years have dragged her into the disputes and she will remain involved until a mutually acceptable solution is achieved in the overarching problem of the SCS.