A constellation of islands, reefs and rock-piles has been the source of disputes for decades. As a new phase in the conflict (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/09/12/more-storms-are-brewing-in-the-south-china-sea?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) begins, how to calm things down? In the first of a series of first-person dispatches, we speak to a student in Gaza (