China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims. In addition to substantial natural resources, the South China Sea is of paramount strategic significance to the Asian security paradigm and to global stability. We have created a Library Special on this topic in order to provide you easy access to our collection: a selective bibliography, newsletters, books, articles and online resources.

Bertha Sophia Felicita von Suttner was a 19th century author and peace activist from Austria. Her most famous work, the anti-war novel titled ‘Die Waffen Nieder’ (Lay Down Your Arms), became an international bestseller and was published in all the major world languages of the time. Upon the success of her novel, Bertha von Suttner quickly rose to prominence within the international peace movement that was gaining ground in Europe and in the United States of America. She founded the Austrian Peace Society, contributed to the establishment of many other pacifist organizations throughout Europe and founded a peace journal, Die Waffen Nieder, which was later succeeded by the journal Die Friedens-Warte.