The European Council on Foreign Relations

Should Europe fear the Pacific century?

Date: 28th June 2012  |  Author: Jonas Parello-Plesner,

Categories: China,

This post from Jonas was part of the 'Strategic Europe' blog on the Carnegie website, answering the question 'Should Europe fear the Pacific century?'

Delphi in Greece marks the centre of the world. Greenwich near London is the point zero of time. The original meter is stored in France. Europe sets the standard for the world. Its affairs are world politics. Or, that's how it used to be.

The centre of gravity is shifting. Delphi has been replaced as navel of the world by islands in the South China Sea. Thus, Asia with rising China in its middle is moving to centre stage. The US is reconfiguring its policy to reflect that. It is pivoting towards Asia and the Pacific. This is where economic growth is. This is also the centre stage for the sometimes cooperative sometimes confrontational power play between the US and China.

Europeans are currently preoccupied with the euro

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