Gorana Grgić, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney and a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Security, presents her research on the factors influencing the EU's outlook as a geopolitical actor in the Indo-Pacific. This event is part of the International Security Research Colloquium hosted by the Centre for International Security.
What to make of the EU’s ambitions to exert more influence in the Indo-Pacific? The Union’s “Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific” far surpasses similar strategic outlooks to other developing regions. Moreover, in its adoption of the Indo-Pacific as a geographical term of reference, the EU has signalled its acceptance of the strategic competition paradigm furthered by some of its member states and key partners. While this is far from the first time the EU has sought to be perceived as a geopolitical actor, it is the first instance it is attempting to act in such a manner this far from the European continent. This has, in turn, raised questions about its priorities and capabilities, particularly in the wake of escalation of the war in Ukraine. This talk examines the internal and external factors that influence EU’s actorness in the Indo-Pacific. It proposes a theoretical model to study actorness that better captures the impact of systemic factors. It concludes by offering an assessment of the prospects of transatlantic coordination and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Speaker
Dr Gorana Grgić is a jointly appointed Senior Lecturer with the Discipline of Government and International Relations and the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. She is also a 2022-2023 Research Fellow at the Hertie School’s Centre for International Security, and an Expert Associate with the National Security College at the Australian National University. In recent years, Gorana was a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Center for European Studies (2018-2019), and a Partners Across the Globe Research Fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome (2021). Gorana’s research interests include US foreign policy, transatlantic relations, conflict resolution, and democratisation. Gorana’s research projects and teaching activities have been funded by the European Commission, NATO, and the Australian Department of Defence.
