Perspectives for a European Security Strategy Towards Asia: Views from Asia, Europe and the US

EU-Asia relations have steadily moved up the Brussels policy agenda. The rise of China, and the concomitant geopolitical shift this implies, has posed questions over the strength of the EU’s strategic relationships with individual Asian countries. Beyond developing a strategic approach towards individual countries, an increasing number of security challenges in Asia have direct implications for the EU and require appropriate policy responses. The case for increasing European engagement is strong, not least because the period since the ratifi cation of the Lisbon Treaty has seen the EU improve upon its policy tools that are to strengthen its global reach as well as its capabilities for policy implementation in pursuit of European foreign policy goals. At the same time, EU-Asia relations remain beset by a lack of strategic thinking as to the EU’s policy interests in Asia as well as the most appropriate tools to pursue them. This volume seeks to addresses this gap, and to do so from two vantage points. First, contributors provide assessments of the EU’s strategic interests in Asia, its capacity for action as well as clarity as to the options to address various policy challenges. Second, individual chapters also address Asian views of the EU as well as ways in which the EU can and should bolster its bilateral and regional engagement in the fi eld of security. Taking account of EU as well as Asian interests and perceptions, this book offers concrete recommendations of how to strengthen EU engagement with Asia in a changing global context.