CSDS’ Bridging Allies initiative is a track 1.5 platform that seeks to generate ideas to strengthen practical cooperation between the key alliances that underpin security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, paying particular attention to NATO on the one hand, and the U.S.-Japan, U.S-Australia and U.S.-ROK alliances on the other. CSDS conducts this initiative in close collaboration with academic and think tank partners in the United States, Japan, Australia, France, the Republic of Korea and Canada.

The CSDS Bridging Allies initiative comprises different streams, and is supported through a variety of funding schemes.

-A project supported by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security (SPS) examines key security trends in the Indo-Pacific region, and analyse their possible impact for NATO. This project is led by CSDS in cooperation with the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) in Tokyo, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), and CERI at Sciences-Po Paris.

-A project supported by the Australian Department of Defense’s Strategic Policy Grants Program (SPGP) will bring together practitioners and experts from Europe and the Indo-Pacific to offer recommendations on how to strengthen links between NATO and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific. This project is led by CSDS in cooperation with the U.S. Studies Centre of the University of Sydney (USSC) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., who is joining as an associate partner.