ISAS South Asia Discussion Papers

The rise of China and the other Asian countries has shifted the world’s economic, military and geopolitical centre of gravity from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indo-Pacific. In view of this shift, the European powers have realised that the region is too important to be left either to the bipolar Sino-American contest or the Indo-Pacific’s regional powers. Given its emergence as a normative pole in international politics and its advanced military capabilities, Europe holds the potential to play a significant role in the emerging geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific.

However, structural challenges persist. While, on the one hand, several European economies are intertwined with that of China, on the other hand, Russia, continues to pose the most immediate threat to Europe’s physical security.

This collection of discussion papers – a joint publication between the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation – attempts to bring together several European and Indo-Pacific perspectives on Europe’s tilt towards the region.