EU Global Strategy Expert Opinion No.29 – François Godement

Asia is currently not the top security concern of Europeans with several conflicts raging in our immediate vicinity. Yet it is of the utmost importance in a longer-term perspective. Asia has the world’s two most populated nations (China and India), and soon three out of the five largest economies (China, Japan and India).

Regional trends indicate greater defence spending (with India and South Korea now matching the UK and France), a regional arms race (with submarines and short-range missiles having the most destabilising potential), contested maritime spaces (with some parties claiming history trumps international law) and an increasingly disputed regional hegemony.