The European Union and Security Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: A Lamb in the Lion’s Den?

As an extension of the European Union’s view of world affairs, its Indo-Pacific strategy prioritizes economic rapprochement but hardly discusses hard security matters and the ways the European Union (EU) can contribute to the regional efforts to address them. Though European military initiatives across the region can play a role in shaping the local security architecture, the effectiveness of the EU policy toward the region is facing three major issues. First, the focus of the EU on governance and cooperation—rather than strategic competition—cast doubt on the ability of the organization to play a role in the most pressing issues facing Indo-Pacific countries. Second, that policy can only work if its member states provide enough resources to flesh it out. This derives from the third issue, namely, the competing priorities of EU member states. The reticence of many European countries to allocate capabilities to the Indo-Pacific is compounded by the Ukraine–Russia war that started in 2022. That conflict is likely to remain the focus of European foreign policies for the coming years, putting into question the ability of officials in Brussels to keep the Indo-Pacific at the top of their agenda.