Navigating Great-Power Rivalry: An Indo-Pacific Plus Strategy for the European Union
As transatlantic tensions deepen, the European Union faces a geopolitical environment increasingly shaped by great-power rivalry rather than stable multilateralism. At Davos 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that the rules-based order is weakening and that middle powers must respond through cooperational coalition-building rather than passive reliance on inherited institutions. Canada’s subsequent strategic tariff arrangement with China and the United Kingdom’s pragmatic reset with Beijing illustrate a broader trend of strategic hedging under US assertiveness. For the EU, the central question is whether to react with its own unilateral pivot, or to actively implement a coordinated Indo-Pacific coalition strategy that preserves resilience and strategic autonomy without drifting into dependency on either Washington or Beijing.
