Two centuries or more of western domination of much of the world has not only redrawn the global political maps but in many cases determined place names. If that seems arcane, it is not. It was western powers that named the South China Sea, for instance. It is a name that China is now using to seek to demonstrate its hegemony over an ocean, parts of which are being claimed by five littoral nations, many of which have their own names for the ocean.