Bridging Allies meeting in Paris

On 9 February CSDS co-organised a closed-door meeting in Paris under the Bridging Allies initiative with the Center for International Studies (CERI) at Science Po Paris. Representatives from partner research institutions like the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) in Japan also participated. The meeting focused on the transformation of the Indo-Pacific political and security architecture, as well as the relations between NATO and the Indo-Pacific.

The Indo-Pacific region has traditionally relied on a hub-and-spokes system of alliances for its security architecture. However, in recent years, there has been a shift towards a more flexible, diversified and pluralist security architecture. The different panels in this closed-door workshop assessed the emergence of informal and ad hoc cooperative initiatives, such as the Quad (Plus) and various trilateral formats involving the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries. Additionally, it examined the effects of the evolution of the security architecture in the region against the strengthening of NATO and its Indo-Pacific partners’ collaboration. Experts discussed lessons learnt and specific recommendations aimed at building consensus among allies and partners.