It has come under our observation that the world’s economic and political center of gravity continues to shift towards the Indo-Pacific with China playing a dominant role in areas such as trade, military, and technology. Another palpable observation is that American supremacy has been relatively declined in the region. These changes pose a new challenge for most European countries whose economic future and geopolitical relevance are inextricably linked to developments in the region. As ways of walking a fine line in the Indo-Pacific region being the epicenter of great power rivalry between the US and China, France published an Indo-Pacific strategy paper in 2018 and 2019, and Germany and the Netherlands followed in September and November 2020 respectively. Due to the efforts of those three countries, the “EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific” could be launched as an official strategy in 2021.
