Relations between the United States and China - overall and in the South China Sea in particular - are rapidly deteriorating. The two countries are escalating the situation and a military clash is a distinct possibility.

Indeed, they seem locked in a duel driven by mutual distrust in which each claim to be responding to the other and neither wants to make the first move to de-escalate. The larger and broader dynamic seems unmanageable at the moment. However, in the short term, there are smaller steps that can be taken to avoid a clash.