EU Global Strategy Expert Opinion No.24 – Radha Kumar

While policy planners work towards an EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS), the priorities that have been spelled out thus far in a series of EU documents, as well as in speeches by HR/VP Morgherini have little to say on EU-Asia relations.

The most recent EU strategic review serves up a bland ‘the EU can offer consistent but also customised support to regional cooperation efforts in Asia. We also need to foster a rules-based approach to conflict management and respond to the opportunity presented by various developments in Asian connectivity.’ It refers to China as an emerged power in a subclause and dismisses diverse initiatives such as the BRICS, the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as unlikely to succeed.