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Vo1. 36, No. 6, November/December 2018
territorial disputes in the South China Sea and explores the strategic drivers and
rationales behind the renewed interest and rivalry for maritime supremacy and
territorial claims. Given the relative peace in the late 1990s and the past decade, the
re-emergence of disputes and potential escalation of conflicts provide unique case
studies of the two competing international relations theories on the specter of
conflicts and prospect for peace in this region of growing geo-strategic salience.
Given the critical sea lines of communication (SLOC), potential future maritime
resources, and unresolved territorial disputes, it is of great importance to fully
understand and effectively address these emerging security challenges and develop
mechanisms for managing these crises that have such enormous policy implications
for the key players involved, including the United States and China.
[Keywords] South China Sea, territorial disputes, great-power rivalry, US-China
military exchanges, confidence-building measures
[Author] YUAN Jindong, Associate Professor, Centre for International Security
Studies, University of Sydney.

40 Equilibrium Dilemma and Financial Security: Institutional
Evolution of the International Monetary System and its Problems

ZHANG Falin and ZHANG Wei
[Abstract] The outbreak of the 2008 global financial crisis and its continuing impact
have created a powerful external impetus for the institutional changes of the
international monetary system and made it a core agenda of the G20-led global
financial governance reform. With the gradual dissipation of the negative effects of
this crisis, the international monetary system reform has been plunged into an
“equilibrium dilemma”. That is to say, the institutional reforms of the international
monetary system have stagnated and been loacated in a relatively stable state before
the reforms reached an optimal state; the driving forces for institutional reforms
generated by the crisis have gradually been weakened; major state actors continue to
maintain and accept the existing international monetary system, unable to make any
changes alone. In this dilemma, many long-standing problems in the international
monetary system remain unsolved, including issues related to a sovereign currency
acting as an international currency, the diversification of the exchange rate systems
and the ensuing exchange rate fluctuations and misalignments, the macroeconomic
imbalances caused by inadequate adjustment in balance of international payments as
well as the inefficiency of the international monetary organizations. From the
perspectives of international institutional changes and financial security, reforms in
the post-crisis era have not created a safer financial world.
[Keywords] equilibrium dilemma, international monetary system, institutional
changes, financial security
[Authors] ZHANG Falin, Ph.D. and Associate Professor, Zhou Enlai School of
Government, Nankai University (Tianjin, 300350); ZHANG Wei, Ph.D. and
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University
(Beijing,100084).

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