European Security in an Indo-Pacific Age (ESIPA)

As the centre of gravity of global economic growth, technological innovation and security continues to shift towards the Indo-Pacific region, geopolitical dynamics in and around Europe will be increasingly influenced by external dynamics and forces. In the context of intensifying Sino-American strategic rivalry in the Indo-Pacific and more globally, Europeans need to develop their own economic, security and technological relations with countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Acknowledging this reality, the European Union (EU) and NATO have paid increasing attention to the need to develop partnerships in the Indo-Pacific in recent years, as well as to the question of how to address China’s strategic rise and growing global influence. European governments in the EU and NATO are indeed trying to formulate their own policies. Still, a series of challenging questions emerge: how will the EU position itself in a world increasingly structured around the United States (US)-China competition? How will systemic trends such as the rise of China or the US’ shift towards the Indo-Pacific affect the broader European neighbourhood, including the Western Balkans, Africa and the Middle East? And what does the intensifying competition between China and the US mean for Moscow and Russia’s role in Europe?

To engage with such questions, the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) is leading an interdisciplinary Large Research Group (LRG) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) called “European Security in an Indo-Pacific Age (ESIPA)”. ESIPA brings together 7 ZAP professors and a total of 32 researchers from across the VUB ecosystem, including the Research Council (OZR), the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) and the POLI Department. ESIPA draws on CSDS’ established expertise on Europe, transatlantic relations and the Indo-Pacific region. We team up with VUB-based researchers to leverage their specific expertise and strengthen VUB’s presence and visibility on these topics.  ESIPA benefits from a broader network of academic and policy contacts with expertise in European and Indo-Pacific security. This ensures the relevance of the results and it gives further academic, policy and public visibility to the endeavours of the LRG.

ESIPA pursues the following objectives:

1) Enhance Europe’s understanding of the evolving geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape in the Indo-Pacific region and use research to highlight the security and economic implications for Europe;

2) Facilitate dialogue between European and Indo-Pacific governments, academics and civil society on mutual strategic concerns and challenges, as well as scoping out the space for enhanced cooperation; and,

3) Provide strategic recommendations to European policymakers based on comprehensive research, analysis and outreach.

Read details on ESIPA output and research members