Opinion | An internally split Europe can never fully engage China and Asia
The Brussels effect is real but so is Europe’s strategic subordination to the US. For China, and Asia, this means proceeding with pragmatism
When contemporary Europe engages with the world, it increasingly presents as two distinct Europes operating within the same institutional framework. This duality – a Europe of strategic dependence vs a Europe of normative assertion – creates a contradiction.
For partners, particularly in China and across Asia, this is not merely an abstract identity crisis but a practical geopolitical puzzle that complicates engagement and challenges assumptions about Europe’s global role.
From the vantage point of China and Asia, Europe’s internal split translates into tangible challenges for cooperation. First, it creates a credibility deficit. When “sociopolitical Europe” advocates for a rules-based international order, champions multilateralism or criticises other powers’ internal affairs, its moral authority is undercut by the reality of “Nato Europe”.
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