#Pacifist route series

The latter would see Seoul selling around 1,000 tanks to NATO front-line state Poland.Īccording to website Global Firepower, that single export order would exceed the operational tank fleets of Germany (266) France (406) and the UK (227) combined – 899. On the issue of scale, take, for example, an arms deal currently being negotiated between Seoul and Warsaw. A PLA soldier drills amid ongoing Taiwan tensions. All three have well-reputed militaries but very modest ones compared to those in the region. The broader question is what Western European middle powers like France, Germany and the UK can bring to the region. Those defense deals, and another multi-billion dollar arms deal being sealed between Seoul and Warsaw, show the benefits of weapons/equipment standardization for defense-industrial cooperation. That footprint may be expanded as London’s BAE and Tokyo’s Mitsubishi mull building their respective countries’ next-generation stealth fighters in partnership: The two announced they are engaged in a “joint concept analysis” at the Farnborough Air Show in July. Still, AUKUS offered long-retired Pacific power the UK a new footprint in the region. That development was widely assessed as being aimed at China, though it is doubtful that any boats will be delivered before 2030. Leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea were – for the first time in the organization’s history – invited to the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain this year.Īnd last year, to considerable global surprise, Pacific power Australia inked a deal with the UK and US to provide it with nuclear submarines under the “AUKUS” partnership. NATO has increasingly been mentioning China in its policy briefs and fought an ill-starred campaign for two decades in Afghanistan, despite its avowed Atlanticist orientation. Indeed, the term “The West” is looking outdated, as US-allied democratic polities in Australia, Japan and South Korea increase their defense exchanges and ties with US-allied democratic polities in Europe. The latter process is being viewed with consternation in democratic capitals east, west and south. Pouring further fuel on the fire, another US Congressional delegation is currently in Taiwan.īut the broader background is the ever-rising import of East Asia’s economies and most particularly the inexorable rise of China in industrial, technological and military terms. Her visit infuriated Beijing, which responded with air and naval drills around the self-governing island. The other is ongoing tensions around Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island on August 2-3. One is the Ukraine War –a conflict that has delivered a massive jolt to NATO militaries and governments.

#Pacifist route series

West goes Eastīerlin’s eastward moves are part of a series of increasing East-West defense exchanges that are taking place against two backdrops. But while Indo-Pacific deployments by European powers remain relatively inconsequential in terms of their size and heft, they are part of a significant rising trend. Yet despite Gerhartz’s florid statements, there is immense policy fuzziness hanging over any European commitment to Asian defense. The fighters follow Germany’s dispatch last year of a frigate on a rare tour of the Indo-Pacific. According to the Royal Australian Air Force, “Germany, Japan, and the Republic of Korea will be participating fully for the first time.”

The three-week Australian drills will include 2,500 personnel and around 100 aircraft from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the UAE, UK and the US.

“Defending those values in case of a war emergency and being able to support our partners is something that needs to be practiced.” We share the same values with many partners in this region,” Chief of the German Air Force Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz, who will reportedly be flying in the drills, said. “The Indo-Pacific is of great importance to Germany.