Projecting Credibility. Geopolitical Dynamics and the EU Strategy in China and Indo-Pacific

Abstract

This Panel examines the geopolitical dynamics and EU strategy in Asia, notably towards China and in the Indo-Pacific region. The greater Asia region is particularly important to study, as it became a focus area of geopolitical competition. What strategies does the EU as a maritime actor employ in this context and does it have the capacity to project credibility in the region? The papers in this Panel find that, compared to regional power, such as China or India, the EU prefers preventive measures when it comes to the Indo-Pacific region, and avoiding thus to fall into the trap of great power competition. However, as the evidence presented in this Panel shows, a series of problems impede the Eu capacity to act in the waters of Southeast Asia and pursue an effective EU Maritime Strategy. Second, the EU’s ambitious role as a norm setter and regulatory in the cyber domain is evaluated, looking closer at the EU’s actorness in cyber security governance and its cyber strategy towards Asia. The paper in this Panel employ analytical frameworks drawing on ‘offshore balancing’, ‘neoclassical realism’ or ‘security projection’.

Title	Details
European Union Unrivaled in the Western Balkans: Regional Order, Hegemony and Emerging Powers	View Paper Details
The EU’s Reaction to Maritime Geopolitical Dynamics in the Indo-Pacific: the Projection of Security	View Paper Details
Disentangling the EU’s Actorness in Cyber Security Governance: A Case Study on EU Cyber Security Strategies Towards Asia	View Paper Details
Europe's Capacity to Act in the Indo-Pacific	View Paper Details
Getting It’s Act Together? The EU’s Foreign and Security Policy Towards China (The European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy Through a Neo Classical Realism Lens)	View Paper Details