Geopolitical Europe Pulse: Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore
31 May 2024
The Shangri-La Dialogue, a high-level security dialogue organised by IISS in Singapore, takes place from 31 May to 2 June; the format has become increasingly important for Europeans in recent years to take the pulse of geopolitical debates, tensions, and opportunities for engagement with the region. This week’s edition of the Geopolitical Europe Pulse brings you compilation of articles and resources on Europe-Asia relations, current developments in Southeast Asia and China and their implications for Europe, as well as questions on world order more broadly.
First things first: what to expect from the Shangri-La Dialogue? The first day is reserved for special sessions, the plenaries start on Saturday. Confirmed speakers include President of the Philippines Marcos, Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo, and US Secretary of Defence Austin, and the titles of the other plenary sessions also hint to high-level speakers from India and China. However, the more interesting dynamics are those behind the scenes. Among others, the US and Chinese defence ministers meet at the sidelines of the event. The agenda and additional information are available here.
Europe and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific: Europeans have stepped up their engagement in the Indo-Pacific in recent years, both in policy areas like connectivity, trade, or climate change, and on maritime security. A recent event by the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) discusses the opportunities for cooperation among the EU, Australia and Japan as maritime security providers in the Indo-Pacific. The recording is available here.
The challenge of incoherence: While the EU makes the region a priority, its strategy is often accused of incoherence. In this short insight piece, Christina Keßler proposes concrete steps how this can be addressed.
Geopolitical (non-)alignment in Asia: Engaging with partners in Asia is critical for Europe, but also requires Europeans to take into consideration patterns of (non-)alignment. FES Asia has created a map of geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific, which illustrates membership of countries in Asia in regional cooperation formats and alliances.
Big picture: The dialogue has been granted increased attention in recent years, not at least because it reflects the growing geopolitical weight of Asia. What do shifting global power dynamics, and US-China competition, mean for world order and the emergence of new blocs? Zeno Leoni and Sarah Tzinieris address this question in their article “Return of Geopolitical Blocs”.