What Europeans think about the US-China Cold War
A majority of European citizens believe a new cold war with both China and Russia is under way – but they mostly do not think that their own country is involved
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
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
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
Trumpism by another name: What AUKUS tells us about US policy in the Indo-Pacific
The ultimate effect of AUKUS could be to force Europeans to conclude there is no point in engaging in the vital yet geographically distant issue of Indo-Pacific security
Tough dove: Japan’s China policy under its next leader
Japan’s citizens and leaders across the political spectrum are increasingly aware that China poses a security threat. The country’s next prime minister is unlikely to make a dramatic change to the China policy set by his predecessors.
The false promise of AUKUS
In their new security and technology arrangement with Australia, America and Britain have achieved tactical gains at the expense of strategic goals in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, given how deeply the deal has divided the West, the biggest long-term winner may well be China.
AUKUS: After the sugar rush
The initial high of announcing AUKUS has faded for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has returned from the United States to face a less congenial domestic agenda
Europe’s post-Afghanistan to-do list
The EU’s approach to foreign policy and economic policy needs to account for the fact that, globally, the space between the two areas is increasingly narrow
The transatlantic meaning of AUKUS
What does AUKUS mean for the future of transatlantic relations?
After AUKUS: The uncertain future of American and European cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
Europeans – especially the French – want Washington to explain its decision to ally with Australia and the UK. But the EU also needs to decide how to approach the Indo-Pacific.
What Europeans think about the US-China Cold War
A majority of European citizens believe a new cold war with both China and Russia is under way – but they mostly do not think that their own country is involved
Lead time: How Germany should move on from Merkel | Episode 2 – China Policy
How should the next German government concretely shape its China policy, and its approach to the Indo-Pacific?
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
Publications
What Europeans think about the US-China Cold War
A majority of European citizens believe a new cold war with both China and Russia is under way – but they mostly do not think that their own country is involved
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
Articles
Trumpism by another name: What AUKUS tells us about US policy in the Indo-Pacific
The ultimate effect of AUKUS could be to force Europeans to conclude there is no point in engaging in the vital yet geographically distant issue of Indo-Pacific security
Tough dove: Japan’s China policy under its next leader
Japan’s citizens and leaders across the political spectrum are increasingly aware that China poses a security threat. The country’s next prime minister is unlikely to make a dramatic change to the China policy set by his predecessors.
The false promise of AUKUS
In their new security and technology arrangement with Australia, America and Britain have achieved tactical gains at the expense of strategic goals in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, given how deeply the deal has divided the West, the biggest long-term winner may well be China.
AUKUS: After the sugar rush
The initial high of announcing AUKUS has faded for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has returned from the United States to face a less congenial domestic agenda
Europe’s post-Afghanistan to-do list
The EU’s approach to foreign policy and economic policy needs to account for the fact that, globally, the space between the two areas is increasingly narrow
After AUKUS: The uncertain future of American and European cooperation in the Indo-Pacific
Europeans – especially the French – want Washington to explain its decision to ally with Australia and the UK. But the EU also needs to decide how to approach the Indo-Pacific.
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.
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 transatlantic meaning of AUKUS
What does AUKUS mean for the future of transatlantic relations?
Lead time: How Germany should move on from Merkel | Episode 2 – China Policy
How should the next German government concretely shape its China policy, and its approach to the Indo-Pacific?
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?
In the media
Aukus tells us a lot about the foreign policy of the Biden administration & raises two questions: What does it mean to be an ally of the US? And what is Washington’s vision on the Indo-Pacific?
Aukus could force Europeans to conclude that the Indo-Pacific is too far from their interests, writes Frederic Grare
This won’t make the EU a decisive actor in the Indo-Pacific, but it will make it an actor
He [Kadisha] will keep the noticeably harder line against Beijing because I believe a reverse course will not be well accepted domestically as well as internationally
Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp aruges that while PM Kishida has stressed that dialogue with China will be necessary, it is unlikely that he will dramatically change the course set by his predecessors
Motegi’s reappointment symbolizes both continuity in terms of foreign policy, “but at the same time keeping and satisfying [Kishida’s] political capital within the Liberal Democratic Party
Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp comments on the reappointment of Toshimitsu Motegi as Japan’s foreign minister
Merkel’s focus on a bilateral approach with Beijing has contributed to a greater fragmentation of European China policy
According to EFCR, Germany needs to rebalance its relations with China in the broader European interest