Asia and Indo-Pacific
Asia and the Indo-Pacific are often presented as the heart of international relations in the 21st century.
Related Subjects
EU-China relations: De-risking or de-coupling − the future of the EU strategy towards China
Official Development Assistance in the Age of Deglobalization
Official development assistance has collapsed since 2023, both in Europe and in the United States. This decline has affected both developing and industrialized countries. Under fire in the Global North and South, the goals and methods of development assistance must be redefined if it is to adapt to an international landscape in which the principal actors—the United States, the European Union, China, the Arab countries—are adopting new stances.
From Trump to Xi Jinping: Globalization's Great Rupture
The second Trump administration’s trade policy represents a rupture with the United States’ international commitments and a seismic shock for the multilateral trade system. Its destabilizing impact has been exacerbated by China’s disproportionate trade surplus, which has doubled since the 2020 pandemic. We are entering a new era marked by the erosion of norms and their replacement by a more transactional logic. For Europe, the challenge is enormous.
The Global Economy: Caught in the Storm / Politique étrangère, Vol. 91, No. 1, 2026
The global economy has become the primary arena for the clash of power ambitions in a world where understanding, coordination, and concerted multilateralism seem to have been permanently marginalized. In this fragmented landscape, how will American and Chinese strategies interact? Will the European Union manage to break out of its decades-old framework in order to face new competition? And will it be able, like others, to integrate the announced shift from a production economy to a digital, information economy? And what role will financial institutions, and central banks in particular, play in this transitioning international economy?
European Union-India: Lasting Rapprochement or Partnership of Convenience?
The partnership between the European Union (EU) and India has long been limited to economic exchanges. Its political dimension has gradually developed, culminating in its elevation to the status of a “strategic partnership” in 2004. However, the failure of negotiations for a free-trade agreement in 2013 slowed this momentum. Since the early 2020s, in an uncertain geopolitical context, bilateral rapprochement has gained new momentum.
The U.S. Policy Toward Taiwan Beyond Donald Trump: Mapping the American Stakeholders of U.S.-Taiwan Relations
Donald Trump’s return to the White House reintroduced acute uncertainty into the security commitment of the United States (U.S.) to Taiwan. Unlike President Joe Biden, who repeatedly stated the determination to defend Taiwan, President Trump refrains from commenting on the hypothetical U.S. response in the context of a cross-Strait crisis.
Japan’s Takaichi Landslide: A New Face of Power
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has turned her exceptional popularity into a historic political victory. The snap elections of February 8 delivered an overwhelming majority for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), driven by strong support from young voters, drawn to her iconoclastic and dynamic image, and from conservative voters reassured by her vision of national assertiveness. This popularity lays the foundation for an ambitious strategy on both the domestic and international fronts.
China’s Strategy Toward Pacific Island countries: Countering Taiwan and Western Influence
Over the past decade, China has deployed a diplomatic strategy toward the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). This strategy pursues two main objectives: countering Taiwan's diplomatic influence in the region and countering the influence of liberal democracies in what Beijing refers to as the "Global South."
New Cold War? What New Cold War? Confronting the Geoeconomic Fragmentation Narrative with the Data
It has become widely accepted that the world economy should be seen as increasingly shaped by forces of fragmentation, resulting from geopolitical tensions. This article takes another look at this narrative, using international trade data. While an aggregate analysis is consistent with a new Cold War narrative, whereby international trade is increasingly seen as split into two blocs, this is only a mix of very different outcomes. Far from being a widespread trend, geoeconomic fragmentation of trade flows is only significant in “hotspots”: Russia's foreign trade and China-US bilateral exchanges, and the impact is massive in these cases. Outside these “hotspots”, there is no tangible sign that geopolitical tensions have been shaping international trade patterns in terms of blocs, nor is there any hint of a trend toward nearshoring – to the contrary, in fact.
Has ASEAN become Marginalized within Regional Security Architecture?
South Asian leaders continue to reiterate how “central” ASEAN is to the region’s security architecture. However, in practice, the tendency is to prioritize bilateral agreements, gradually marginalizing the organization. This fragmentation is weakening regional cooperation, accentuating divisions, and compromising stability in the context of growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific. These trends are worrying at a time when Sino-American rivalries are becoming more acute.
Caught between China and the US: Southeast Asia’s Strategic Fence-Sitting
The secret of success for many Southeast Asian countries has been their choice of economic and diplomatic multilateralism. Fence-sitting between rival powers is becoming fraught. China inspires a degree of fear in the region, due to its clout and geographical proximity. And under Trump, the United States is on the offensive against the multilateral trade system, with major diplomatic consequences. Can Southeast Asian countries maintain their balance by embracing new partnerships?
Official Development Assistance in the Age of Deglobalization
Official development assistance has collapsed since 2023, both in Europe and in the United States. This decline has affected both developing and industrialized countries. Under fire in the Global North and South, the goals and methods of development assistance must be redefined if it is to adapt to an international landscape in which the principal actors—the United States, the European Union, China, the Arab countries—are adopting new stances.
The Global Economy: Caught in the Storm / Politique étrangère, Vol. 91, No. 1, 2026
The global economy has become the primary arena for the clash of power ambitions in a world where understanding, coordination, and concerted multilateralism seem to have been permanently marginalized. In this fragmented landscape, how will American and Chinese strategies interact? Will the European Union manage to break out of its decades-old framework in order to face new competition? And will it be able, like others, to integrate the announced shift from a production economy to a digital, information economy? And what role will financial institutions, and central banks in particular, play in this transitioning international economy?
From Trump to Xi Jinping: Globalization's Great Rupture
The second Trump administration’s trade policy represents a rupture with the United States’ international commitments and a seismic shock for the multilateral trade system. Its destabilizing impact has been exacerbated by China’s disproportionate trade surplus, which has doubled since the 2020 pandemic. We are entering a new era marked by the erosion of norms and their replacement by a more transactional logic. For Europe, the challenge is enormous.
European Union-India: Lasting Rapprochement or Partnership of Convenience?
The partnership between the European Union (EU) and India has long been limited to economic exchanges. Its political dimension has gradually developed, culminating in its elevation to the status of a “strategic partnership” in 2004. However, the failure of negotiations for a free-trade agreement in 2013 slowed this momentum. Since the early 2020s, in an uncertain geopolitical context, bilateral rapprochement has gained new momentum.
The U.S. Policy Toward Taiwan Beyond Donald Trump: Mapping the American Stakeholders of U.S.-Taiwan Relations
Donald Trump’s return to the White House reintroduced acute uncertainty into the security commitment of the United States (U.S.) to Taiwan. Unlike President Joe Biden, who repeatedly stated the determination to defend Taiwan, President Trump refrains from commenting on the hypothetical U.S. response in the context of a cross-Strait crisis.
Japan’s Takaichi Landslide: A New Face of Power
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has turned her exceptional popularity into a historic political victory. The snap elections of February 8 delivered an overwhelming majority for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), driven by strong support from young voters, drawn to her iconoclastic and dynamic image, and from conservative voters reassured by her vision of national assertiveness. This popularity lays the foundation for an ambitious strategy on both the domestic and international fronts.
China’s Strategy Toward Pacific Island countries: Countering Taiwan and Western Influence
Over the past decade, China has deployed a diplomatic strategy toward the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). This strategy pursues two main objectives: countering Taiwan's diplomatic influence in the region and countering the influence of liberal democracies in what Beijing refers to as the "Global South."
New Cold War? What New Cold War? Confronting the Geoeconomic Fragmentation Narrative with the Data
It has become widely accepted that the world economy should be seen as increasingly shaped by forces of fragmentation, resulting from geopolitical tensions. This article takes another look at this narrative, using international trade data. While an aggregate analysis is consistent with a new Cold War narrative, whereby international trade is increasingly seen as split into two blocs, this is only a mix of very different outcomes. Far from being a widespread trend, geoeconomic fragmentation of trade flows is only significant in “hotspots”: Russia's foreign trade and China-US bilateral exchanges, and the impact is massive in these cases. Outside these “hotspots”, there is no tangible sign that geopolitical tensions have been shaping international trade patterns in terms of blocs, nor is there any hint of a trend toward nearshoring – to the contrary, in fact.
Caught between China and the US: Southeast Asia’s Strategic Fence-Sitting
The secret of success for many Southeast Asian countries has been their choice of economic and diplomatic multilateralism. Fence-sitting between rival powers is becoming fraught. China inspires a degree of fear in the region, due to its clout and geographical proximity. And under Trump, the United States is on the offensive against the multilateral trade system, with major diplomatic consequences. Can Southeast Asian countries maintain their balance by embracing new partnerships?
Has ASEAN become Marginalized within Regional Security Architecture?
South Asian leaders continue to reiterate how “central” ASEAN is to the region’s security architecture. However, in practice, the tendency is to prioritize bilateral agreements, gradually marginalizing the organization. This fragmentation is weakening regional cooperation, accentuating divisions, and compromising stability in the context of growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific. These trends are worrying at a time when Sino-American rivalries are becoming more acute.
guest author for The Diplomat
U.S. tariffs take center stage but China and the EU are quietly clashing
The U.S. tariff saga has stolen global spotlight from trade tensions between China and the European Union, which are now heating up.
Europe is trying to woo Southeast Asia — but it won’t win it over the U.S. or China
European leaders are looking to Southeast Asia with renewed interest amid Washington’s aggressive tariff agenda, but experts warn that the state of regional trade ties makes it challenging to disrupt the U.S. or China’s hold.
Macron’s Southeast Asia trip: What is behind the French president’s ‘third way’ proposal?
In a recent Southeast Asia tour, Macron pitched ‘strategic autonomy’ as a means for nations to avoid choosing sides in the US-China rivalry, offering France and Europe as alternative partners
The 'Macron Doctrine' goes to Asia: Autonomy with partners, steady on China
The French president calls for a 'third way' in the Indo-Pacific
Macron calls for Europe and Asia to unite and resist ‘spheres of coercion’
French President Emmanuel Macron used a keynote speech Friday at Asia’s top regional security conference to call on European and Indo-Pacific nations to pursue "strategic autonomy" — avoiding picking sides between China and the United States — and instead forge “coalitions of action” while standing up to “spheres of coercion.”
Emmanuel Macron touts France as ‘reliable’ partner for south-east Asia
French President Emmanuel Macron has begun a six-day visit to Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore in which he will tout France and Europe as trade and security partners of choice for a region buffeted by tensions between China and the US.
How Will the Trump Presidency Change EU-China Relations?
Over the past few years, European countries have started to line up with the United States on China policy. But now, as Donald Trump destroys the trust European countries had in America, China is stepping up, promising stability and consistency.
China-EU ties reach half century: 4 things to know
Will Trump 2.0 push the two combative sides to find common ground?
New rare earth plant shows strength of Japan-France cooperation
France and Japan broke new ground in March in a shared quest to bolster resilience in critical mineral supply chains amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.
Replay - Navigating the Taiwan Strait Tensions: Perspectives from Japan, the Philippines, and France
Conference Replay - As tensions continue to rise in the Taiwan Strait and discussions grow about hybrid frictions potentially escalating into a kinetic conflict in the coming years, neighboring countries are bracing for impact. Japan and the Philippines would be on the front lines if a crisis were to erupt in the Taiwan Strait.
Trump's Indo-Pacific Vision & Japan's Strategic Autonomy
Satoru Mori, Senior Fellow at the Nakasone Peace Institute, explores key insights into President Trump's likely priorities for the Indo-Pacific region. His primary concerns include addressing economic trade imbalances with countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. Additionally, he aims to deter regional conflicts, particularly over Taiwan, and wishes to advance the denuclearization of North Korea.
(Replay) US-China-Taiwan Relations: What to expect in the Trump II Era?
Replay of Ifri's Center for Asian Studies' conference "US-China-Taiwan Relations: What to expect in the Trump II era?", held at Ifri on Tuesday 11 March 2025.
Replay - The European Union in Competition with the United States and China. How to Balance Free Trade, Competitiveness and Economic Security?
Video replay from Ifri's conference, on December 3, 2024. As the geopolitical context has changed, so has the approach to international economic relations and the rules-based multilateral framework. Covid and Russia’s war against Ukraine have exposed the risks of extended supply chains and of having become dependent on a single supplier.
Replay - North Korea Beyond Nukes: Focusing on the Human Rights Challenge
Replay of Ifri's Asian Studies Center conference "North Korea Beyond Nukes: Focusing on the Human Rights Challenge".
Russia-North Korea Alliance: A New Threat to Global Security and Korean Stability?
An interview with Wooyeal PAIK, Professor, Department of Political Science and International Studies, Yonsei University. He analyses why North Korea's support for Russia could escalate global tensions, strain the EU-NATO security ties, and destabilize the Korean Peninsula.
Taiwan's Security: Challenges Ahead and the Impact of a Trump Administration
An interview with I-chung Lai, President, Prospect Foundation, in which he explains how Taiwan's security environment has evolved and what to expect from the next Trump administration.
Trump’s Indo-Pacific and European Strategies: Change or Continuity?
An interview with Kelly Grieco, Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center, in which she explains what changes and continuities might the future Trump administration bring to U.S. alliances and Indo-Pacific strategy.
Are Marine Protected Areas a relevant tool for the Pacific?
Marine protected areas (MPAs) offer a solution for countries in the region to manage their maritime space. Access to scientific data is required to set MDA.
The CPTPP and UK’s accession: What global implications?
The UK is the first State which formally applied to join the CPTPP. Its bid was accepted in early June 2021.
How Asia is transforming geopolitical situation and it is most affecting Taiwan today? Interview with Francis Yi-hua Kan
Francis Yi-hua Kan is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University.
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China Plays Up Image of Reliable Partner as Foreign Monarchs Visit "The visit gives China a chance not only to reaffirm its closeness with the (Thai) Kingdom, but also to signal its continued regional relevance at a time when U.S. influence is visibly receding. It comes just two weeks after Trump's brief stop at the ASEAN Summit, where his visit's only visible outcome was his role in overseeing the signing of the short-lived peace declaration between Thailand and Cambodia. By contrast, China announced the deepening of its free-trade agreement with ASEAN" - Juliette Loesch.
quoted by Liz Lee in Reuters
guest author for The Diplomat
Related centers and programs
European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC)
The European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC) is a gathering of China experts from a selection of European research institutes. It is devoted to the policy-oriented study of Chinese foreign policy and relations between China and European countries as well as China and the EU. It facilitates regular exchanges among participating researchers with a view to deepening the understanding within the European policy and research community and the broader public of how Europe, as a complex set of actors, relates with China and how China’s development and evolving global role is likely to impact the future of Europe. The network’s discussions and analyses take a decidedly ‘bottom-up’ approach, accounting for the various aspects of bilateral relations between European countries and China, and the points of convergence and divergence among EU member states in order to examine EU-China relations in a realistic and comprehensive way. The views presented in ETNC reports are the sole responsibility of the signed authors and do not in any way represent the views of all members of the ETNC, its participating institutions, nor the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.
Center for Asian Studies
Asia is a nerve center for multiple global economic, political and security challenges. The Center for Asian Studies provides documented expertise and a platform for discussion on Asian issues to accompany decision makers and explain and contextualize developments in the region for the sake of a larger public dialogue.
The Center's research is organized along two major axes: relations between Asia's major powers and the rest of the world; and internal economic and social dynamics of Asian countries. The Center's research focuses primarily on China, Japan, India, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, but also covers Southeast Asia, the Korean peninsula and the Pacific Islands.
The Centre for Asian Studies maintains close institutional links with counterpart research institutes in Europe and Asia, and its researchers regularly carry out fieldwork in the region.
The Center organizes closed-door roundtables, expert-level seminars and a number of public events, including an Annual Conference, that welcome experts from Asia, Europe and the United States. The work of Center’s researchers, as well as that of their partners, is regularly published in the Center’s electronic journal Asie.Visions.