Distinguished Visiting Fellow
Geopolitics, emerging technologies, geoeconomics in the Indo-Pacific, US-China relations, Indian foreign policy, Southeast Asia, UK and US foreign policy
English
James Crabtree is a distinguished visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Crabtree is a geopolitical analyst and author, with extensive experience living and working in Asia. His book The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age, was named an Amazon book of the year and short-listed as a Financial Times & McKinsey business book of the year. Prior to joining ECFR, he was the Singapore-based executive director of the Institute of International Strategic Studies in Asia, where he led the organisation of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, and an associate professor in practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School, Asia’s leading school of public policy.
James spent ten years as a journalist and foreign correspondent, notably for the Financial Times, where he was both Mumbai bureau chief and comment editor. He is currently a columnist for Foreign Policy and writes for publications ranging from the Straits Times to The New York Times, the Guardian and Wired. He previously worked as a senior advisor in the UK prime minister’s Strategy Unit, under Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Crabtree has worked for various think tanks in London and Washington, and spent several years living in America, initially as a Fulbright Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
The EU has concluded its third major trade deal of 2026. Its agreement with Australia reflects both sides’ desire for new partners amid Trumpian chaos and Chinese coercion. But now this partnership should go further
Mark Leonard welcomes James Crabtree to unpack the landmark EU-India trade deal
The new EU-India free trade agreement could become a template for 21st-century trade governance
Mark Leonard welcomes James Crabtree and Suhasini Haidar to explore India’s foreign policy and its emerging relations with Europe
Tensions with Trump will prompt India to seek rapprochement with Beijing, but the underlying competitive dynamics in China-India relations are unlikely to change. Against this backdrop, Europe offers a promising alternative to balance risks
This week, tensions between India and Pakistan have led to direct combat and fatalities. As the confrontation escalates, Europeans will likely have to take clear sides and re-assess the role of Chinese military technology in future wars—which could be much closer to home
Mark Leonard welcomes Rudra Chowdhury, James Crabtree and Janka Oertel to unpack Europe’s relations with Asia in the age of Donald Trump
As Ursula von der Leyen prepares to bring her team of European commissioners to New Delhi this week, she should seize the moment to deepen ties with her Indian counterparts. With Donald Trump in the White House, both the EU and India need closer friends elsewhere
With increased US-China competition likely to shape Trump’s second term, significant attention in Washington is focused on the primacists, prioritisers and restrainers vying to shape the incoming administration’s China policy. But this focus on the US often neglects the perspectives and debates within China itself. To help us understand these internal discussions, Mark Leonard and Alicja Bachulska…
Europe’s relations with India have mis-fired in the past, even as New Delhi has built a range of important new partnerships with major international players, most obviously the United States. But 2025 offers a chance for a re-boot, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to meet Europe’s political leaders at a major EU-India summit early…
Tensions with Trump will prompt India to seek rapprochement with Beijing, but the underlying competitive dynamics in China-India relations are unlikely to change. Against this backdrop, Europe offers a promising alternative to balance risks
The EU has concluded its third major trade deal of 2026. Its agreement with Australia reflects both sides’ desire for new partners amid Trumpian chaos and Chinese coercion. But now this partnership should go further
The new EU-India free trade agreement could become a template for 21st-century trade governance
This week, tensions between India and Pakistan have led to direct combat and fatalities. As the confrontation escalates, Europeans will likely have to take clear sides and re-assess the role of Chinese military technology in future wars—which could be much closer to home
As Ursula von der Leyen prepares to bring her team of European commissioners to New Delhi this week, she should seize the moment to deepen ties with her Indian counterparts. With Donald Trump in the White House, both the EU and India need closer friends elsewhere
The return of Donald Trump could shake the fundamentals of US relationships in the Indo-Pacific. Here’s how Europeans should act
North Korea’s troop deployment to the Russian front represents a fundamental shift in Europe’s security relations with east Asia. To confront the Moscow-Pyongyang axis, the EU should deepen its partnership with South Korea
Europeans should work to understand the threats from the North Korea-Russia relationship – and deepen their security partnership with South Korea
India remains concerned with China above all. Western partners such as the US and the EU are much more useful to New Delhi than is Moscow
Ties between Brussels and New Delhi have long struggled to reach their potential. After their respective elections, shared geopolitical concerns about China and common goals on topics from technology to economic security can provide a chance for a reboot
Tensions over Taiwan are likely to rise in the aftermath of this weekend’s election, regardless of who wins. The next president will seek closer ties with Europe, which will necessitate a more coherent and unified policy
Mark Leonard welcomes James Crabtree to unpack the landmark EU-India trade deal
Mark Leonard welcomes James Crabtree and Suhasini Haidar to explore India’s foreign policy and its emerging relations with Europe
Mark Leonard welcomes Rudra Chowdhury, James Crabtree and Janka Oertel to unpack Europe’s relations with Asia in the age of Donald Trump
With increased US-China competition likely to shape Trump’s second term, significant attention in Washington is focused on the primacists, prioritisers and restrainers vying to shape the incoming administration’s China policy. But this focus on the US often neglects the perspectives and debates within China itself. To help us understand these internal discussions, Mark Leonard and Alicja Bachulska…
Europe’s relations with India have mis-fired in the past, even as New Delhi has built a range of important new partnerships with major international players, most obviously the United States. But 2025 offers a chance for a re-boot, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to meet Europe’s political leaders at a major EU-India summit early…
Picture this scenario: the year is 2028 and western intelligence services have reached an alarming conclusion. Credible sources suggest that China is about to impose a maritime blockade around Taiwan – a step that intelligence officers believe will precede a full-scale invasion of the territory. As the world braces for impact, G7 allies scramble to assess their…
James Crabtree on Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to India
James Crabtree on Taiwanese maritime security
James Crabtree on the need for US allies to adapt to the revolution in U.S. foreign policy under Trump
James Crabtree reviewing what 2025 meant for Asia and what that could lead to in 2026
James Crabtree on how Trump’s tariffs have pushed India toward multi-alignment)
