Could World War III start in the South China Sea over the maritime territory disputes between China and the Philippines? The United States has already gotten involved in the tensions there. Grant Newsham, retired colonel and senior fellow at the Center For Security Policy, says that “war starts over pretty funny things—there are small things—and often ways you don’t expect,” and the tensions in the South China Sea are “getting pretty close to meeting the terms for invoking the defense treaty which we have with the Philippines, which requires us to defend the Philippines in the event of an armed attack on the Philippines.”