A Singapore deployment would signal British interest in Southeast Asia and support regional partners facing pressure from a major power. Much international maritime law develops through precedent, so an unanswered act of coercion can affect more than the immediate dispute. If superior force is allowed to determine the rule, other states may face that same precedent when their own interests are challenged. Britain provides an ironic warning because it established many of the precedents it now invokes through its own historical use of power.
Notable Point · 36:47-37:38
Coercion and the precedents of maritime law
Allowing a stronger state to change maritime practice through coercion can establish a precedent that later constrains every other state.