WEEKLY INSIGHTS: TUESDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER 2017

September 26, 2017        Reading Time: < 1 minute

Your weekly digest of foreign policy commentary:

Reading Time: < 1 min read

Daniel Keohane examines British and German dependence on US military protection. Image Credit: gioiak2 / depositphotos

ASIA COMMENTARY

 

Big Ideas to Shape BIMSTEC’s Future by Prabir De, Coordinator of the ASEAN-India Centre, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)

BIMSTEC could be a driver of future integration between South and Southeast Asia.

• Prabir De argues that the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is capable of propelling integration between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
  • Member states of BIMSTEC should sign and implement the BIMSTEC free trade agreement, which could activate production links and generate new value chains.
  • Connectivity, especially digital integration and backend infrastructure, needs to be improved among member states, and cooperative coastal shipping should be further promoted.
  • BIMSTEC must build specialty infrastructure to strengthen integration between South and Southeast Asia.
    • In particular, India and Thailand should work to realise the planned Mekong-India Economic Corridor.  

GLOBAL COMMENTARY

 

The Anglo-German Addiction to American Defense, by Daniel Keohane, Senior Researcher, Center for Security Studies at ETH Zürich

[F]ew European governments seem serious about reducing their military dependence on the United States.

• Daniel Keohane observes that the UK and Germany show no signs of reducing their dependency on US security in the region.
  • In response to President Trump’s rhetoric on NATO, European leaders have only alluded to increasing military cooperation among European states. There are no plans for an alternative or additional military alliance to NATO.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political opponents have supported the idea of a European army. However, she remains committed to NATO.
  • Far from turning away from US security, the UK is expected to strengthen its military ties with the US in the wake of Brexit.