Geopolitical Aspects of European Union's Approach to Indo-Pacific

Abstract

In recent times, the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy is perhaps the most important geopolitical development. While the European Union and several European countries have a deep engagement with the Indo-Pacific region, they were also some of the last actors to develop an Indo-Pacific Strategy. However, despite the delay, the Indo-Pacific Strategies of the EU and the other European countries show a strong commitment to the region in terms of trade and connectivity and addressing common challenges and upholding international law and rules-based international order. The chapter seeks to analyse the European approach to the Indo-Pacific, first from country-specific perspectives and draws upon them to form the perspective of the European Union. It also compares the French, Dutch and German Indo-Pacific Strategies with emerging the EU strategy. The chapter finds that while the French strategy is more security-oriented, the German strategy’s commitment to multilateralism stands out, and the Indo-Pacific strategy of the Netherlands is the least specific in terms of its goals. The European Union strategy follows a balanced integration of both the French and German approaches.