How Ukraine Has Reconfigured the EU’s Indo-Pacific Ambitions

Picture of The aircraft carrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH returns to its home port after completion of Exercise Crimson Ocean

Jagannath P. Panda

Commentaries and Op-eds April, 2022

Introduction:

The crisis in Ukraine is already having multiple repercussions across the world beyond its grave humanitarian impact. Geopolitically, it has already exposed the fault lines among allies (e.g., India versus the other Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, states); highlighted the unwitting coming together of rivals, namely India and China albeit through strategic silence; reduced the credibility of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in stopping an unnecessary invasion or in de-escalating tensions; and spurred unprecedented unity in Europe. Besides, the European Union’s (EU) recent approval of a Strategic Compass, ahead of the adoption of the latest NATO Strategic Concept likely in June (Madrid summit), is a late but welcome military and strategic shift for European security policy.

Notably, the EU Strategic Compass has a wide ambit: it is not limited to the EU or NATO members but has global and transatlantic security ambitions. To what extent will Brussels’ new bolstered global security outlook, in concert with the recently released Global Gateway strategy, targeting China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), impact the Indo-Pacific security landscape? Has the Ukraine crisis dulled the urgency of the EU’s goal of strategic autonomy, which had found new momentum post the AUKUS (Australia-UK-US security pact) fiasco? Will the EU’s initiatives counteract the already established NATO mechanism, which was in pursuit of a similar global sphere of influence?

 

You can read the full article on The National Interest’s website.

Related Publications

See more