Bridging The Oceans

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Dr Michito Tsuruoka, Associate Professor at Keio University in Japan to explore Japan's reaction to the announcement of AUKUS, what this means for Japan's immediate security environment, and how it fits into the regional security architecture. Tokyo will need to think critically what role it has to play in the Indo-Pacific's defence and security landscape: will Japan be a passive participant or will it assume a more active role, on par with its closest strategic partners? Tokyo will need to overcome current legal, bureaucratic, and political hurdles .

The defence partnership has divided opinion and frayed some partnerships. For Southeast Asia, the stakes are high, but consensus on AUKUS remains elusive.

Veerle is joined by Dr Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Dr Koh explains that Southeast Asian countries can largely be divided into three camps in their responses to AUKUS, with a particularly interesting analysis of Cambodia's strategic outlook. The new partnership highlights once again some difficult questions for Southeast Asian countries regarding how to manage their own regional security, while maintaining ASEAN centrality and navigating growing tensions between the US and Beijing.

'A stab in the back' is how the French government described the AUKUS announcement, maintaining that it had been misled to believe the submarine deal with Australia would survive delays and cost overruns. But the impact of this agreement goes beyond just a botched defence industry deal. How can France and its partners in the Indo-Pacific rebuild trust and move forward to meet their common objectives in the region? Veerle is joined by Dr Valérie Niquet, Head of the Asia Department at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, in seeking some of the answers.

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and Founding Convenor and Co-chair of the US-Australia Indo-Pacific Deterrence Dialogue. Against a backdrop of rising Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and a perception that the US can no longer guarantee regional stability on its own, Australia took the bold decision to embark on an ambitious defence partnership with the US and UK, to France's fury. France's Ambassador to Australia has yet to return but, while Canberra seeks to rebuild its partnership with Paris, it has bigger fish to fry.

Veerle is joined by Jeffrey Payne, who leads the maritime security programme at the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies in Washington DC. Together, they explore why the Indian Ocean region's maritime security is of importance to the US Indo-Pacific strategy, what activities are already in place and what could lie ahead. They also touch on Afghanistan, and how this impacts US strategy.

As part of the UK's Indo-Pacific tilt, the Royal Navy stands to have a greater role in the region.

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Admiral Sir Philip Jones, who retired from the Royal Navy in 2019 as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. They explore the Royal Navy's past, present and future activities in the Indo-Pacific, and how these fit into the UK's wider strategic approach to the region

In this episode, Veerle and Dr Tanvi Madan, Director and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, discuss what brings the members of the Quad together, how their cooperation and activities may evolve, whether there are any significant divergences between the members, and whether a Quad+ could be seen in the future. One conclusion is clear: don't call it Asian NATO.

Timothy Walker, Maritime Project Leader at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, discusses with Veerle the importance of the African littoral in different countries' Indo-Pacific strategies, the priorities and challenges in furthering maritime security and the blue economy, and the impact of the increasing geopolitical focus on Africa on historical sensitivities in the region.

Veerle and Ken Moriyasu, US editor of Nikkei Asia, trace the continuities and changes in Japan's 2021 Defence White Paper, as well as Tokyo's enduring relationship with Washington, in the context of changing security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific. They also explore how domestic politics and public opinion continue to play an important role in how Japan responds to security challenges.

In this episode, Veerle and Dr Lee Che-chuan, Director of National Security and Decision-Making at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan, discuss Taipei's view of the Indo-Pacific. From tense cross-strait relations and pressures on Taiwan's national security, to synergies between Taipei's New Southbound Policy and other Indo-Pacific strategies, Taipei seeks to carve a role for itself in working with partners on key areas of regional prosperity and stability.