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| France proposes a joint policy on Indo-Pacific, rest of EU likes then Germany says too much like US policy. | |
| 2020-10-31 | |
| [Institut Montaigne] Franco-German Divergences in the Indo-Pacific: The Risk of Strategic Dilution. Debate on the Indo-Pacific is gaining traction in Europe. While France has been championing the idea for a long time, in September 2020, Germany became the second European country to adopt "policy guidelines for the Indo-Pacific". Since then, Germany, France, and the Netherlands have also initiated the process of pushing for an EU strategy for the region. With Germany and other member states embracing the idea, the common European misperception that the Indo-Pacific is first and foremost an issue of Franco-British naval presence in the South China Sea stands a better chance of being gradually brushed aside. But as moves towards a European vision of the Indo-Pacific gain pace, the compatibility and the coherence of the French and German visions for the region will become a central issue for Europe. At the start of this year, senior French defense officials were saying that France’s strategic vision had more in common with Australia, than with any European partner, including Germany. But "mental maps" change. Germany has followed the French steps in recognizing the importance of the Indo-Pacific as an area to defend and promote European interests, in an international order increasingly characterized by the return of bipolarity and great power competition. Its formal embrace of the Indo-Pacific has brought the two countries closer. However, obvious differences remain in the French and German visions of the Indo-Pacific. Their priorities don’t always align. These divergences will need to be reduced or circumvented in order to formulate an effective EU strategy for the Indo-Pacific. EUROPE’S SPACE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA On the surface, because of the Trump administration’s free and open Indo-Pacific strategy, the Franco-German embrace of the Indo-Pacific suggests a solid basis for transatlantic alignment. Indeed, there is full French compatibility with the most salient elements of the American approach, outlined in the strategic document published by the US State Department in November 2019. These are: a free and open Indo-Pacific free of coercion; adherence to international law, including freedom of navigation and overflight; and the key importance of openness and transparency for trade and investment. The German strategy, however, reflects Germany’s reluctance to align with Washington. In this sense, the guidelines echo the refrain often heard in Berlin: "we don’t want to choose sides between the US and China". Germany opposes both unipolarity and bipolarity in the Indo-Pacific and doesn’t specify what role, if any, it expects the US to play. This German assessment of transatlantic cooperation vis-à -vis China reflects distrust towards the Trump administration and may change in case of a Biden administration. France prefers the language of "balancing power" (puissance d’équilibre) – which in practice means contributing to the overall power balance by siding with those affected by the rise in Chinese military power and political influence. Secondly, Germany’s Indo-Pacific guidelines reflect the shift in Germany’s assessment of China as an international actor. The guidelines are clear in criticizing powers attempting to unilaterally alter the status quo and even refer to China as an emerging power that is "calling into question existing rules of the international order". It refers to numerous disputes in the region, including in the Himalayas and the Malacca Strait, and underlines the need for "closing ranks with democracies and partners with shared values". At the same time, Germany pays more attention than France to downplaying conflicts with China and seeks a more "inclusive" Indo-Pacific, including the possibility of cooperation with China on issues like climate change.
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| Posted by:3dc |
| #1 China is/will be an international actor ("developing nation", LOL). Where the Germans are delusional is that they won't be so much. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-10-31 00:56 |