South Korea, the Philippines, Japan: Why Countries in the Indo-Pacific Are Looking to Europe

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South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan are all closely monitoring European security. While they share many of the challenges that European countries are grappling with, and the two theaters are growing ever closer together, opportunities for deepening defense ties are opening.

Europe is viewed as an important export market for defense manufacturers, a partner for joint development and exercises, and a valued provider of equipment and capacity-building. For European countries and the EU, this opens up new opportunities to diversify their own defense partnerships. As the Europeans are trying to become less dependent on the US and ramp up production at home, Indo-Pacific countries present themselves as natural cooperation partners.