Abstract
This chapter maps out the changing roles played by the United States, Russia and India as security actors in East Asia, and their influence on EU foreign and security policies in the region. Detailing the waxing and waning of the US’ ‘unipolar moment’, Russia’s military resurgence, and the increasingly assertive balancing acts of India, the chapter reviews the main policy developments implemented by these three actors since 1990 and how their policies converge or diverge with the EU’s approaches across a range of traditional and non-traditional security issues. The chapter concludes that the challenge for the EU is to advance its interests, and augment the effects, of its policies and instruments in Asia considering the potential for collaboration and contestation with the United States, Russia and India, three very different actors that diverge considerably in both strategic intentions and capabilities.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allison, G. (2017). Destined for War. New York: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt.
Aris, S. (2009). The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: ‘Tackling the Three Evils’. A Regional Response to Non-traditional Security Challenges or an Anti-Western Bloc? Europe-Asia Studies, 61(3), 457–482. https://doi.org/10.1080/09668130902753309.
Aron, L. (2019, April 4). Are Russia and China Really Forming an Alliance? Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-04-04/are-russia-and-china-really-forming-alliance. Accessed 5 May 2019.
Ba, A. (2009). Systemic Neglect? A Reconsideration of US-Southeast Asia Policy. Contemporary Southeast Asia,31(3), 369–398.
Blackwill, R. D., & Tellis, A. J. (2019). The India Dividend: New Delhi Remains Washington’s Best Hope in Asia. Foreign Affairs,98(1), 173–183.
Bosworth, S. W. (1991/1992). America and the World. Foreign Affairs, 71(1), 113–129.
Brattberg, E., & Le Corre, P. (2019). The Case for Transatlantic Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Carter, A. (2018). Reflections on American Grand Strategy in Asia. Cambridge, MA: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Cha, V. D., & Anderson, N. D. (2017). The Case of the Pivot to Asia: System Effects and the Origins of Strategy. Political Science Quarterly,132(4), 595–617.
Charlton, A. (2019, August 27). Macron Pushes Outreach to Russia, Offers ‘Balancing’ Role. AP News.https://apnews.com/4823dda1567d4a618e7f9519e29e81ab. Accessed 4 February 2020.
Chaudhury, D. R. (2019, January 25). India & EU Militaries Hold Maiden Operational Dialogue in Backdrop of Strategy Paper. The Economic Times.
Christiansen, T., Kirchner, E. J., & Murray, P. B. (Eds.). (2013). The Palgrave Handbook of EU-Asia Relations. Palgrave Macmillan.
Clinton, H. (2011, October 11). America’s Pacific Century. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/11/americas-pacific-century/. Accessed 1 April 2020.
Dixon, R. (2019, December 2). A Huge Siberian Pipeline Binds Russia and China, as Gas Flows for the First Time. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/a-huge-siberian-gas-pipeline-binds-russia-and-china-as-gas-flows-for-the-first-time/2019/12/02/35250ff8-14f7-11ea-80d6-d0ca7007273f_story.html. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Dobbins, J., Shatz, H. J., Wyne, A. (2019, October). Russia Is a Rogue, Not a Peer; China Is a Peer, Not a Rogue: Different Challenges, Different Responses. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE310.html. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Dormandy, X., & Kinane, R. (2014). Asia-Pacific Security: A Changing Role for the United States. London: Chatham House.
Esteban, M. (2019, January 17). The EU’s Role in Stabilising the Korean Peninsula (Working Paper 1/2019). Real Instituto Elcano, Madrid.
Feng, F. (2012). Russia-China-Europe Security Relations. In F.-P. van der Putten & C. Shulong (Eds.), China, Europe and International Security: Interests, Roles and Prospects (pp. 107–119). London and New York: Routledge.
Fukuyama, F. (2005). Re-envisioning Asia. Foreign Affairs,84(1), 75–87.
Ganguly, S. (2019, June 13). A New Era in Indian Foreign Policy? East Asia Forum. https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2019/06/13/a-new-era-in-indian-foreign-policy/. Accessed 20 January 2020.
Gorenburg, D., & Schwartz, P. (2019, March). Russia’s Relations with Southeast Asia (IFRI Reports, No. 26).
Goto, S. (2014). The Rebalance Within Asia: The Evolution of Japan-India Relations. Washington, DC: The Wilson Center.
Götz, E., & Merlen, C.-R. (2019). Russia and the Question of World Order. European Politics and Society,20, 133–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/23745118.2018.1545181.
Hathaway, R. M., & Lee, W. (2005). George W. Bush and East Asia: A First Term Assessment. Washington, DC: The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Hemmings, J. (2016, April 14). What the Bush Era Can Teach Us About Asia. The National Interest.
Hiatt, F. (2014, April 14). U.S. Ground Troops Going to Poland, Defense Minister Says. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/04/18/u-s-ground-troops-going-to-poland-defense-minister-says/. Accessed 7 December 2019.
House, W. (2017). National Security Strategy of the United States of America. Washington, DC: White House.
Hsiung, C. W. (2019). Facing the ‘New Normal’: The Strong and Enduring Sino-Russian Relationship and Its Implications for Europe (UI Paper, No. 3/2019). Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm. https://www.ui.se/globalassets/ui.se-eng/publications/ui-publications/2019/ui-paper-no.-3-2019.pdf. Accessed 1 March 2020.
Keohane, R. O., & Nye, J. S. (1977). Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition. Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown.
Kliman, D., Rehman, I., Lee, K., & Fitt, J. (2019). Imbalance of Power India’s Military Choices in an Era of Strategic Competition with China. Washington, DC: Center for New American Security.
Kristof, N. D. (1989, May 16). Gorbachev Meets Deng in Beijing; Protest Goes On. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/16/world/gorbachev-meets-deng-in-beijing-protest-goes-on.html. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Lendon, B. (2019, July 26). Russia and China Look to Exploit Centuries-Old Japan-Korea Dispute. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/26/asia/south-korea-russia-japan-china-warplanes-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Lo, B. (2018). Introduction. In J. I. Bekkevold & B. Lo (Eds.), Sino-Russian Relations in the 21st Century (pp. 1–17). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lo, B., & Hill, F. (2013, July 31). Putin’s Pivot: Why Russia Is Looking East. The Brookings Institution. http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2013/07/31-russia-china-pacific-pivot-hill. Accessed 8 March 2014.
Lukin, A. (2016). The Bear Watches the Dragon: Russia’s Perceptions of China and the Evolution of Russian-Chinese Relations Since the Eighteenth Century. New York: Routledge.
MacFarlane, N., & Menon, A. (2014). The EU and Ukraine. Survival,56, 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2014.920139.
Mogherini, F. (2019, June 1). Participation of High Representative of EU for Foreign and Security Policy at the 18th Asia Security Summit, The IISS Shangri-La Dialogue. The Institute of International and Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue, Singapore.
Mourdoukoutas, P. (2019, October 12). South China Sea: Like Vietnam, Duterte Teams Up with Russia to Stop China. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2019/10/12/south-china-sea-like-vietnam-duterte-teams-up-with-russia-to-stop-china/. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Naarajärvi, T. (2012). China, Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: Blessing or Curse for New Regionalism in Central Asia? Asia Europe Journal,10(2), 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-012-0329-z.
Norling, N. (2007). China and Russia: Partners with Tensions. Policy Perspectives,4(1), 33–48.
Østevik, M., & Kuhrt, N. (2018). The Russian Far East and Russian Security Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region. In H. Blakkisrud & E. Wilson Rowe (Eds.), Russia’s Turn to the East: Domestic Policymaking and Regional Cooperation, Global Reordering (pp. 75–94). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69790-1_5.
Paikin, Z. (2019). Russia’s Pivot to the East: Where Does It Leave the EU? ECFR Comment. https://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_russias_pivot_to_the_east_where_does_it_leave_the_eu. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Pennisi di Floristella, A. (2019). United States and European Union Evolving Approaches in Southeast Asia: Moving Closer to Convergence or Divergence? Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 38, 172–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/1868103419866533. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Rumer, E. (2016, June 30). Russia and the Security of Europe. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/2016/06/30/russia-and-security-of-europe-pub-63990. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Sahajpal, M., & Blockmans, S. (2019) The New EU Strategy on Central Asia (CEPS Brief). https://www.ceps.eu/the-new-eu-strategy-on-central-asia/. Accessed 19 February 2020.
Sattarov, R. (2018, November 4). A Needless Rivalry? Russia and the EU in Central Asia. Carnegie Moscow Center. https://carnegie.ru/commentary/76038. Accessed 19 February 2020.
Sender, H. (2019, June 18). US-China Contest Centres on Race for 5G Domination. A Report for the Pentagon Warns the US Is Falling Behind China in Telecoms. Financial Times.
Shanahan, P. M. (2019, June 1). First Plenary Session. 18th Asia Security Summit The IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Shekhar, V. (2018). India’s Relations with ASEAN: Posture Versus Reality (Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 412).
Stumbaum, M.-B. (2014, June). How Europe Matters in Asian Security: Addressing Non-traditional Security Threats Under Climate Change Conditions—Towards a New Research Agenda on Norm Diffusion in EU-Asia Security Relations (NFG Working Paper, No. 9). Freie Universität Berlin.
Sverdrup-Thygeson, B. (2017). The Bear and the EU-China-US Triangle: Transatlantic and Russian Influences on EU’s ‘Pivot to Asia’. Asia Europe Journal,15(2), 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-017-0472-7.
Tompson, W. (2002). Putin’s Challenge: The Politics of Structural Reform in Russia. Europe-Asia Studies,54(6), 933–957. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966813022000008465.
Torjesen, S. (2008). Russia as a Military Great Power: The Uses of the CSTO and the SCO in Central Asia. In E. W. Rowe & S. Torjesen (Eds.), The Multilateral Dimension in Russian Foreign Policy (pp. 40–48). London and New York: Routledge.
Twining, D. (2015, December 18). Positive Scenario for Modi’s India ‘Acts East’. The ASAN Forum. http://www.theasanforum.org/category/alternative-scenarios/?post_id=6310#slide_header. Accessed 30 March 2020.
Wadhawan, M. (2019, October 31). The Evolution of India’s West Asian Policy. Observer Research Foundation.
Wang, C. (2018, December 7). What President George H. W. Bush Meant for US-China Relations: Remembering Another Aspect of the Late President’s Sizable Impact. The Diplomat.
White House. (1999). The Clinton Presidency. Washington, DC. https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/william-j-clinton/. Accessed 7 December 2019.
White House. (2009). Policies of the Bush Administration (2001–2009). Washington, DC.
Wilson, J. (2015). Strategic Partners: Russian-Chinese Relations in the Post-Soviet Era. New York: Routledge.
Xinhua. (2019, June 6). 中俄元首签署《中华人民共和国和俄罗斯联邦关于发展新时代全面战略协作伙伴关系的联合声明》 [The Heads of State of China and Russia Sign Joint Declaration on Developing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation in a New Era for the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation]. Xinhuanet. http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2019-06/06/c_1124588505.htm. Accessed 7 December 2019.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dominguez, R., Sverdrup-Thygeson, B. (2021). The Role of External Powers in EU–Asia Security Relations. In: Christiansen, T., Kirchner, E., Tan, S.S. (eds) The European Union’s Security Relations with Asian Partners. The European Union in International Affairs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69966-6_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69966-6_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-69965-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-69966-6
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)