Manila may be turning from Washington to Beijing as its primary economic and security partner in the Asian-Pacific region.

Beijing bests Manila in a naval standoff, worrying its neighbors.

Tensions in the South China Sea have been on the rise following a number of incidents at sea and tough rhetoric among the claimants to the sea's waters and islands.

An unfortunate aspect of national discourse on Afghanistan has been a loss of focus on how South Asia fits more broadly into the wider Asian region and beyond. This means measuring U.S. actions in South Asia against two broader yardsticks: their impact on the spread of radical Islam and on hegemonic Chinese ambitions in Asia.

Japan is one of the few countries that could make a significant difference in the naval and air balance of power, if it chose to do so. For that reason, Beijing might stop and think just what it is going to get out of antagonizing all its neighbors.

Only by continuing to act on the high seas as it always has can the United States hope to maintain a system of international rules that serves its own interests. Ratifying UNCLOS could very well have the opposite effect.

Obama's administration is finally taking a tougher stance on Beijing after years wasted trying for cooperation.

The lessons of Pearl Harbor are many, as is the responsibility to honor the heroic dead of that day.