In this episode, we explore Europe’s evolving strategic ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region, focusing on its geopolitical and economic interests. As global power shifts increasingly towards Asia, the European Union and key member states are developing policies to enhance their presence and influence. We’ll dive into the challenges Europe faces, including balancing relations with China, ensuring maritime security, and fostering partnerships with regional players like Japan and India. Join us as we analyze the strategic goals, the realities on the ground, and the potential long-term impact of Europe’s Indo-Pacific engagement. Watch the full episode below:
Questions covered in the podcast:
- Introduction to subject matter expert.
- Can you please define what is Indo-Pacific and what are the main strategic goals driving Europe’s interest in the Indo-Pacific region?
- How do individual European countries, like France and Germany, as well as the UK, approach the Indo-Pacific differently from the EU as a whole?
- What are the key challenges Europe faces in implementing its Indo-Pacific strategy? And how does Europe’s roadmap align or conflict with the strategies of major players like the U.S., China, and India?
- What role does economic partnership play in Europe’s Indo-Pacific ambitions, particularly in terms of maritime economy, security, trade, and investment?
- How significant is the role of security and defense cooperation in Europe’s Indo-Pacific strategy?
About the guest speaker:
Gesine Weber is a fellow on GMF’s Geostrategy team, where she works on European security and defense issues. Based in Paris, she focuses on EU defense initiatives, security and defense policy of the E3 (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom), and Europe’s role in the global order.
During a 2024 fellowship at the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute for War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, Weber led a research project on European balancing in the Indo-Pacific in the context of US-China competition.
Prior to joining GMF, she worked as a defense policy adviser at the German parliament and as a consultant for the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Shanghai. Weber is pursuing a PhD in defense studies at King’s College London, where she is part of the European Foreign Policy Research Group and contributes to the work of the Centre for Grand Strategy. She is an associate researcher for the European Council on Foreign Relations and a nonresident Hans J. Morgenthau Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for International Security.
Weber holds a master’s degree in European affairs from Sciences Po in Paris and another master’s degree in political science from the Freie Universität Berlin. She studied Mandarin at the Beijing Foreign Studies University. Her writing and commentary appears regularly in English, French, and German in European and other international media, including the BBC, the Neue Züercher Zeitung, Politico, and France 24.
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