Brussels indo-pacific dialogue

EEAS

European External Action Service. The EU's diplomatic corps and foreign service. Represented by Secretary General Belén Martínez Carbonel.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A military alliance of 32 member countries in North America and Europe. Represented by Deputy Secretary General Radmila Šikarinska.

Indo-pacific

The vast region encompassing the East Coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, and the Pacific. It is central to global security, economic resilience, and trade (60% of global maritime trade crosses its waters).

ASEAN

Regional groupings in the Indo-Pacific (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Pacific Islands Forum, Indian Ocean Rim Association) through which the EU and NATO engage.

IP4

Indo-pacific four

• NATO's four key partners in the region: Japan, Republic of Korea (South Korea), New Zealand, and Australia.

UNCLOS

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Emphasized as the rule of law that must be upheld, especially in the maritime domain.

War machine

Term used to describe Russia's military industrial base in the context of its war in Ukraine, which is being supplied/enabled by key actors in the Indo-Pacific (China, North Korea).

NATO and future cooperation with IP4

Want concrete, practical operation

• Defense industrial base & resiliance

• Emerging and disruptive technologies (EDT)

• Situational awareness

EU and ROK (republic of Korea) defense industrial cooperation

ROKs defense industrial capacity important asset for EUs own defense goals own defense goals.

• Strengthening EU's Defense Base:

  • The primary goal for the EU is rearmament and resilience.

  • Cooperation with ROK would focus on securing essential military supplies and accelerating the delivery of capabilities to EU member states, helping the EU realize its strategic autonomy and economic security goals

Taiwan blockade scenario: EU response

Economic / diplomatic

• EEAS would invoke international law (UNCLOS), demanding adherence to free passage through the Taiwan strait

• The EU would deploy its full range of economic and diplomatic tools, including potentially severe sanctions against the coercing actor (China), while intensifying its strategic efforts on supply chain diversification and resilience (the "Protect" element of its strategy) to minimize economic vulnerability.

Taiwan blockade scenario: NATO response

Situational/deterrence

• While remaining an "out-of-area" crisis, NATO would emphasize that an attack/blockade on Taiwan would be an immediate threat to the global order and thus, Euro-Atlantic security.

• The reaction would focus on political unity, robust consultation with the IP4 and G7, and boosting situational awareness. NATO's core action would be to ensure its own regional security and stability while working with partners to maximize deterrence, likely utilizing non-kinetic responses like cyber defense coordination to stabilize the global environment.

Indas’s 10 key points on IP

• Multipolarity defines the region

• Indias vision is inclusive

• Chinas rise is a structural reality

• US engagement is essential

• The QUAD defined (not an Asian NATO)

  • non military, not an alliance but a functional issue-based cooporation

• ASEAN centrality remains key

• Priorities of

  • ·       Freedom of navigation

    ·       UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

    ·       Counter-piracy

    ·       HADR (India as first responder)

    ·       Securing undersea infrastructure

• Partnership with EU, Japan, Australia, US, France

• Economic security = diversification

• India welcomes EU in the IP

Australia view of IP

• deteriorating Security Environment

• Strategic vision of peace, stable, prosperous where no one ocuntry dominates

• US-China relationship contains cooperative elements

• Broader definition of security, not just hard power

• Austrailias approach is a networked strategy combining

US-China rivalry

• Strategic cause, global power

• Chinas pov

  • Gain power, expect deference

  • believes great powers do what they want

Rule-based order

A system where laws and norms — not raw power — shape state behavior, ensuring sovereignty and stability.

Minilaterism

Small, flexible groupings (e.g., Quad, AUKUS) that pursue functional cooperation without formal alliances.

Economic security

The resilience of supply chains, market diversification, and protection from coercive dependencies.

Multipolarity

A system with several influential powers rather than a single hegemon or two superpowers.

Tripwire forces

Forward-deployed forces whose presence automatically triggers a larger military response if attacked.
East Asia lacks these due to its maritime geography.

Geoeconomic turn

Technology, trade, and industrial policy are becoming central to geopolitical competition.

Openness vs security

• The EU remains an open economy dependent on trade, innovation, and investment flows.

• But this openness now requires protection, diversification, and new policy tools.

Strategic sector

Critical raw materials and semiconductors are recurring examples where:

·       Markets alone cannot solve the problem

·       Government action is required

Indispensability and leverage

Japan introduces a powerful concept:
→ Power comes from being indispensable to others.

Europe is beginning to adopt similar thinking.

Europes dilemma

·       Openness

·       Resilience

·       Reduced dependencies

·       A competitive industrial base

·       Partnerships with Indo-Pacific countries

But must navigate between U.S. security pressures and China’s systemic rivalry

Geoeconomics

The use of economic tools—trade, investment, supply chains, finance, technology controls—to achieve geopolitical goals.

Economic statescraft

Government use of economic means (sanctions, export controls, market access) to influence other states’ behavior.

Weaponized independence

Concept describing how states exploit global networks and dependencies to gain coercive leverage.

Supply-chain resilience

Ability to withstand, adapt, or rapidly recover from disruptions by:

·       Diversification

·       Redundancy

·       Reshoring/friend-shoring

Strategic autonomy

• Europe’s aim to reduce critical dependencies and retain freedom of action while staying open and cooperative.

Small yard, high fence

·       Narrowly define what sectors must be protected

·       Apply strong protective measures within that narrow domain

Meant to avoid over-securitization of the entire economy.

Critical raw materials

Materials essential for green technologies, digital industries, and defense, where supply risks are high.

Strategic indispensability

A nation’s ability to gain influence by being the irreplaceable provider of certain goods, technologies, or markets.

IMEC

·       A nonprofit, pre-competitive research institute.

·       Works across the entire technology “stack”:
semiconductors → platforms → software → applications (automotive, health, etc.).

·       Attracts global industry partners to Europe.