Europe: Divided Over AUKUS and China
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020231197197 |
| Author | Hans Mouritzen |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
Europe: Divided Over
AUKUS and China
Hans Mouritzen
Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract
The AUKUS deterrence strategy towards China contrasts with the more cooperative
EU Indo-Pacific strategy. In Europe, this can be traced to the fact that the UK and
France/Germany support different geopolitical world views. European (and possibly
Western) cohesion requires that geographical and geo-economic heterogeneities,
together with Chinese wedging, are overcome. This can only happen, if at all, if the
expensive partner receives a significant “solidarity reward.”
Keywords
divide and rule, external danger/internal cohesion, geo-economics, geopolitics, solidarity
reward, world order views
Europe is far from Asia, and only two European powers are geopolitically interested in
the Indo-Pacific region: France and the UK. The rest are positioning themselves one
way or the other. But there are, of course, economic and geo-economic interests at
stake, and it is in any case crucial for the EU Commission to signal its global ambitions.
Like a flashlight, AUKUS (the “enhanced trilateral security partnership”between
Australia, the UK, and the US) reveals the basic geopolitical divergence between
the UK and France, which normally is overlaid by other concerns. Since AUKUS is
essentially about policy towards China, geopolitics thus are intertwined with
European economic and geo-economic concerns vis-à-vis China. This should be
Corresponding author:
Hans Mouritzen, Danish Institute for International Studies, Gammel Kalkbrænderi Vej 51A, 2100
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Email: hmo@diis.dk
Scholarly Essay
International Journal
2023, Vol. 78(3) 454–462
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/00207020231197197
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