The United Kingdom and France share many security interests and strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region – including, among others, responses to China’s rise, ongoing tensions in the Indian subcontinent, North Korean instability, as well as terrorism, environmental and maritime security issues.
Currently, France and the UK cooperate in foreign and defence policy initiatives in the Euro-Atlantic area, and there are also many bilateral arrangements between both France and the UK and strategic regional partners such as Japan, Australia and India. However, there is limited cooperation between London and Paris in the Indo-Pacific.
This event provides British and French officials and analysts with the opportunity to discuss their respective assessments, priorities and concerns regarding Indo-Pacific security, together and with Japanese colleagues.
- What are the French and British strategies in the Indo-Pacific?
- How can France and the UK work more effectively together to advance shared values and interests in the region?
- Why cooperate more, on what, and why now?
- What are the risks and benefits that come from working together?
- How does this fit with the strategic priorities of key regional partners?
Over the course of two sessions, the speakers map the key strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific and discuss where and how the UK and France could further develop their contribution to Asian security, together and with partners.
This event, organized with the support of the embassy of Japan in the United Kingdom, is the first in a wider Chatham House UK-France-Japan policy dialogue exploring prospects for European engagement in Indo-Pacific security.
Participants
Angus Lapsley, Director, Directorate General for Defence and International Security, UK Ministry of Defence
Contre-amiral Hervé Hamelin, Deputy Director, International Security, Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy, French Ministry for Armed Forces
Dr Eva Pejsova, Associate Researcher, Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS)
Professor Yuichi Hosoya, Professor of International Politics, Keio University
Marianne Péron-Doise, Senior Researcher, Institute for Strategic Research at the Military School (IRSEM)
Dr Michito Tsuruoka, Associate Professor, Keio University
Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The Economist
Dr Anisa Heritage, Senior Lecturer, Department of Defence and International Affairs, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
