Middle power and EU pivots to Asia

Four “Middle Power” Pivots to Asia

In this cluster of four articles on pivots to Asia, we expand the range covered in the Special Forum on pivots to Asia posted in the final issue of 2014. There, we included the United States, China, India, Russia, and Japan, concentrating on great powers. We now turn our attention to middle powers, adding Europe as a force that falls short of a great power, given its lack of cohesion and the hesit..

Editorial Staff

April 09,2015

Less Geneva, More Jakarta? Assessing Australia’s Asia Pivot

The history of Australia’s engagement with Asia is littered with debates about identity and destiny. Settled in 1788 as a British colonial outpost, Australia’s federation did little to alleviate anxiety about being a European entity situated in an Asian region. The first legislation passed by the Australian Parliament—the Immigration Restriction Act—entrenched what became known as “the ..

Andrew O’Neil

Asia-Pacific engagement , AU-Japan relations , Australia's "Big Three"

April 09,2015

Recalibrating the Rebalance: A View from South Korea

Akin to other key Asian powers that have a long-standing alliance with the United States, South Korea has welcomed America’s renewed attention to Asia although this is hardly surprising given historically high positive perceptions of the United States and the ROK-US alliance. According to a report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in December 2014 on a review..

Lee Chung Min*

AIIB , CFC , Sino-DPRK relations , THAAD

April 09,2015

Kazakhstan’s Multi-vector Foreign Policy: Diminishing Returns in an Era of Great Power “Pivots”?

Since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia in 2011, the other most consequential powers—China, Russia, India, and Japan—have constructed their own versions of the “pivot.” Each ultimately seeks to make itself central to the reordering of strategic and economic power in Asia in the twenty-first century. China’s rise has been the dri..

Michael Clarke

April 09,2015

Europe’s Incomplete Pivot to Asia

We have been talking about the pivot to Asia, and discussing for so long about the US turning its back on Europe. I have always been convinced that we should together pivot to Asia, the US and the EU. It’s our joint interest, and it would be a strategically powerful move. The reality at the moment is that somebody else is pivoting to Asia. Yes, we have do have a security challenge now, which is ..

Daniel Twining

AIIB , EU , Transatlantic relations , Transpacific relations