The EU’s strategic projection in the Indo-Pacific

Abstract

The Indo-Pacific is becoming the new geopolitical axis of the planet for multiple reasons, among which three stand out: security (with six nuclear powers in the area, some of them amidst clearly growing tensions), demography (with 64 percent of the world population) and economy (with 62 percent of world GDP). Since its founding, the European Union has been absent in the development of a strategy for the region, an absence that has recently ended with the publication of national strategies of three member states (France, Germany, and the Netherlands), as well such as the EU announcement of a future EU strategy for the region. This paradigm shift may mark the beginning not only of greater European cohesion in terms of strategic projection, but also of greater European geopolitical assertiveness in a post-COVID-19 world in the Indo-Pacific and other regions. This article will trace the birth and evolution of the Indo-Pacific concept, will identify the reasons for its geostrategic importance for the European Union, and will analyze both the three national strategies of France, Germany, and the Netherlands as well as the announced EU strategy for the region.
 Received: 01 September 2021Accepted: 05 November 2021

Japan’s Science and Technology Diplomacy: Society 5.0 and its International Projection

“…This has also materialized in the establishment of technological diplomacy as one of the most important vectors of its Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) initiative, Japan's vision for an area that could be the new global axis of the planet (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2022) and which has also motivated the creation of strategic plans by the main political actors on the planet, such as the United States and the European Union (López Aranguren, 2022a, 2022b. This has included such ambitious projects as the construction of the metro system in several Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, as well as the bullet train project in the same country between the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad in collaboration with European partners.…”