Europe in Asia: Policy Options of an Interested Bystander

Abstract:

As tensions between the United States and China are on the rise, Europe needs to prepare for the contingency of a US-China cold war–like stand-off in Asia. Currently, Europe’s political engagement with East Asia is quite underwhelming while European interest are as substantial as numerous.

In this article, we focus on the question of how Europe could and should position itself in East Asia in order to increase its political weight, to cope with the negative repercussions of conflict between China and the United States, and to prevent Europe’s imminent marginalization in this globally important region.

For Europe and the European Union in particular, all this demands urgently to come up with a more unified and cohesive strategic approach. If Europe wants to play a meaningful role in the Asian century, significant steps are required in order to bolster Europe’s existing economic and political weight with genuine ‘actorness’ abroad.