Moving closer: European views of the Indo-Pacific
It will take more than just strong support from France, Germany, and the Netherlands to ensure that the new EU strategy for the Indo-Pacific is effective in the long term
Asia
The Asia programme seeks to help Europe recalibrate its relationship with China and its Asian partners. The programme analyses China’s domestic situation, its role in the region and its increasing influence around the world and put a renewed emphasis on fostering Europe’s relationships with the Indo-Pacific, especially India and Japan.
Featured
The fall of the Afghan government and what it means for Europe
ECFR’s policy experts examine what the Taliban takeover means for countries and regions around the world: Europe, the US, the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and the Sahel
Fish and ships: Chinese fishing and Europe’s Indo-Pacific strategy
Beijing instrumentalises its fishing fleet for geopolitical gain, as evidenced by its policy on the South China Sea. Europe cannot be a bystander on the issue.
Moving closer: European views of the Indo-Pacific
It will take more than just strong support from France, Germany, and the Netherlands to ensure that the new EU strategy for the Indo-Pacific is effective in the long term
The fall of the Afghan government and what it means for Europe
How will the Western withdrawal impact on the state of European defence and military capabilities?
The China factor in the German election
Germany will find it increasingly hard to maintain its current level of prosperity – and security – without charting a new course on China. Fortunately, German voters seem ready for change.
The Afghan tragedy and the age of unpeace
The end of the US-led “forever war” in Afghanistan will not bring peace, because the methods that countries use to attack each other have changed. The world has entered a new age of perpetual competition among powerful states.
Europe after Afghanistan: “We seem fragile, susceptible to blackmail, and lost”
Western countries’ communications on Afghanistan have been a mess since the fall of Kabul, says Omid Nouripour. The country is set to face three types of wars – with the West as mere onlookers.
The fall of the Afghan government and what it means for Europe
ECFR’s policy experts examine what the Taliban takeover means for countries and regions around the world: Europe, the US, the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and the Sahel
Afghanistan: How it could have been different
Nothing was inevitable about the Taliban reconquering of Afghanistan. But in the end the US lost what minimal strategic patience it had.
Fish and ships: Chinese fishing and Europe’s Indo-Pacific strategy
Beijing instrumentalises its fishing fleet for geopolitical gain, as evidenced by its policy on the South China Sea. Europe cannot be a bystander on the issue.
Germany and Afghanistan: Time to ditch bad governments, not good governance
After Afghanistan, countries such as Germany should reconsider their presence in Mali, unless the ruling class commits to good governance and democratic principles
Three lessons for Europe from the fall of Afghanistan
Europe needs to take a hard look at what worked and what did not work in Afghanistan. Only then can it gradually and realistically build up its own capacities, rather than aim for grandiose schemes that lack public support.
Publications
The fall of the Afghan government and what it means for Europe
ECFR’s policy experts examine what the Taliban takeover means for countries and regions around the world: Europe, the US, the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and the Sahel
Fish and ships: Chinese fishing and Europe’s Indo-Pacific strategy
Beijing instrumentalises its fishing fleet for geopolitical gain, as evidenced by its policy on the South China Sea. Europe cannot be a bystander on the issue.
Home advantage: How China’s protected market threatens Europe’s economic power
The EU urgently needs to incorporate the concept and reality of the ‘protected home market advantage’ into its thinking on China
Decade of patience: How China became a power in the Western Balkans
As European and US ambivalence towards the Western Balkans persists, the region will be in increasing danger of falling into an endless spiral of competition between various foreign actors
Climate superpowers: How the EU and China can compete and cooperate for a green future
As climate action becomes more material to economic interests, Europe and China will both compete and cooperate with each other, against the backdrop of an overarching systemic rivalry
Promoting European strategic sovereignty in Asia
Europe should upgrade its security activities, and seize the moment to push multilateral institutions up the agenda. But it will be Europe’s connectivity agenda that provides the golden thread running through its foreign policy and its other objectives in the region.
The new China consensus: How Europe is growing wary of Beijing
In its remaining months, the German Council presidency could use this momentum to create institutional structures to improve the EU’s capacity to act
The meaning of systemic rivalry: Europe and China beyond the pandemic
The crisis is intensifying demands for Europe to puts its China policy on a more open, accountable, and values-based footing
China’s great game in the Middle East
Europeans should monitor China’s influence on regional stability and political dynamics, especially in relation to surveillance technology and arms sales
The China dream goes digital: Technology in the age of Xi
Introduction François Godement Developments in the digital and artificial intelligence arenas in China have attracted so much hype abroad that…
Articles
The China factor in the German election
Germany will find it increasingly hard to maintain its current level of prosperity – and security – without charting a new course on China. Fortunately, German voters seem ready for change.
The Afghan tragedy and the age of unpeace
The end of the US-led “forever war” in Afghanistan will not bring peace, because the methods that countries use to attack each other have changed. The world has entered a new age of perpetual competition among powerful states.
Europe after Afghanistan: “We seem fragile, susceptible to blackmail, and lost”
Western countries’ communications on Afghanistan have been a mess since the fall of Kabul, says Omid Nouripour. The country is set to face three types of wars – with the West as mere onlookers.
Afghanistan: How it could have been different
Nothing was inevitable about the Taliban reconquering of Afghanistan. But in the end the US lost what minimal strategic patience it had.
Germany and Afghanistan: Time to ditch bad governments, not good governance
After Afghanistan, countries such as Germany should reconsider their presence in Mali, unless the ruling class commits to good governance and democratic principles
Three lessons for Europe from the fall of Afghanistan
Europe needs to take a hard look at what worked and what did not work in Afghanistan. Only then can it gradually and realistically build up its own capacities, rather than aim for grandiose schemes that lack public support.
After the withdrawal: China’s interests in Afghanistan
ECFR’s Janka Oertel and Andrew Small discuss China’s attitude towards the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan
Indo-specific: The potential of the EU-India Leaders’ Meeting
The EU’s and India’s willingness to fulfil the untapped economic potential of their relationship indicates that their positions might still quite far apart but, for geopolitical reasons, they want to reach a compromise
The EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy: A chance for a clear message to China and Europe’s allies
Friends and foes alike will pay careful attention to the contents of the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy. On the current reading, Europe’s friends in particular may be disappointed.
Friends in deed: How the EU and the Quad can promote security in the Indo-Pacific
China’s growing assertiveness is already driving closer cooperation among democracies. The EU should now incorporate the Quad more directly into its strategic thinking and activity.
Specials
Moving closer: European views of the Indo-Pacific
It will take more than just strong support from France, Germany, and the Netherlands to ensure that the new EU strategy for the Indo-Pacific is effective in the long term
What does India think?
Indians are many, as are their demands, aspirations, and ideas
Podcasts
The fall of the Afghan government and what it means for Europe
How will the Western withdrawal impact on the state of European defence and military capabilities?
China’s strategic approach to the Western Balkans
How much influence does China already ha be in the Western Balkans and how should European policymakers react?
The prospects for EU-India relations ahead of the Leaders Summit
What are the prospects for a closer EU-India relationship following the upcoming EU-India Leaders Summit?
A foreign policy for a Green Germany
How would a (partially) Green government affect German foreign policy?
Multilateralism after covid-19
How can Europe adapt its strategies for multilateralism in this competitive world and what would they look like?
The geopolitics of cybersecurity
Dr Janka Oertel discusses with Dr Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp and Bonji Ohara the cooperation in the field of cybersecurity between two of the US closest allies
Dual circulation: China’s new economic strategy
What lies behind China’s dual circulation strategy? How will the EU approach all of this? And are European policy-makers really prepared to deal with this new challenge coming from China?
The future of EU-China-US relations
What are the prospects for transatlantic cooperation on China now that a new US administration is in power?
Top ten foreign policy trends in 2021
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro predict ten bright and bold policy projections for the year to come
It’s complicated: Europe-China relations in a world of superpower competition
Can Europe compete in today’s new geopolitical realities? Does the Union find itself in a technology war with China? And are at least cooperative solutions…
In the media
Australia feels threatened by China, and it has every reason to be
The EuropeanUnion needs to take its own agency seriously, be visible and find a message to partners in the Indo-Pacific argues Janka Oertel in the new FESAsiaVlog
The fact that we are so taken aback by this crisis, even though the Americans did not hide their intentions, illustrates our level of dependency towards them.
Tara Varma is quoted in Le Figaro about the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan
At least since the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, China has viewed the country through a lens of threat
The newsletter on foreign policy refers to several of ECFR’s Afghanistan commentaries and interviews