Originally published 16 December 2020

Germany, France, and The Netherlands have published Indo-Pacific Strategies. The United Kingdom speaks of a strategic tilt to the region. But what does all this mean in practice?

This week, Veerle is joined by Dr. Garima Mohan and Dr. Frederic Grare to explore the growing momentum in Europe of individual states releasing strategies and foreign policy guidelines on the Indo-Pacific region. In particular focus are Germany and France, whose strategies while broadly aligned also offer some divergences.

Our guests explore how these policies might be implemented in the future and what role the European Union may play given the calls by Paris, Berlin and others for the EU to release an Indo-Pacific Strategy of its own.

They also discuss the need for coordination amongst European nations in the region and their key partners, the comparative advantages offered by the EU, and the implications of a Biden administration on European policy towards the Indo-Pacific. While the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt still requires further fleshing out, our guests highlight potential areas of complementarity and cooperation between the UK and key European actors in the region.