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The Taliban takeover of Kabul on 15 August 2021 and Western forces' subsequent complete withdrawal did not bring peace and stability to Afghanistan. Levels of violence may have decreased throughout the country, but the Taliban remain neither capable of sustaining the Afghan economy, nor of efficiently combating terrorist groups on their territory. After two decades of military involvement and trillions of dollars invested, and due to the Taliban's broken promises and its violations of the 2020 Doha ...

The Indian Ocean hosts some of the fastest growing economies in the world and connects these economies with both the Atlantic Ocean and the Asia-Pacific region, making the Indo-Pacific a region of tremendous geostrategic importance. For over a decade, China has been increasing its maritime presence and its ambitions in the region and beyond. With the development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013 and renewed tensions between China and Taiwan, China's territorial claims and its artificial ...

The last regular European Council meeting before the summer break will address a wide range of topics, from Russia's war in Ukraine, the economic situation and a strategic debate on China, to security, defence and migration. In the context of Ukraine, EU leaders will reconfirm the EU's multidimensional support for the country, with a specific focus on military assistance, and welcome the agreement on the 11th package of sanctions on Russia. On the economic situation, EU leaders are expected to discuss ...

China, the United States, and the European Union are global rivals in areas covering trade, geopolitics, the military, economics, and technology. Economically, China's rise as a global player has disrupted the traditional dominance of the US and the EU. China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) seeks to expand the country’s economic influence by investing in infrastructure projects across many regions, challenging the economic interests of the US and the EU. For several years, US trade policy has aimed ...

China’s footprint in European critical assets has grown steadily over time, without any centralised mechanism that could give the European Union (EU) and Member State agencies visibility and scrutiny over projects of strategic significance for Europe’s defence and security. China’s footprint poses specific challenges to Europe’s efforts to protect its critical infrastructure. China’s party-led political system does not allow clear distinctions between commercial, political and military interests, ...

The 49th G7 Summit, bringing together the leaders of the United States (US), Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), took place on 19 21 May 2023 under the Japanese Presidency in Hiroshima, a city with worldwide symbolic importance for war, nuclear devastation and peace. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine dominated the leaders' summit once again, with Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, attending in person. The other main issue was ...

The European Union faces a number of geopolitical challenges, which are often interwoven. Russia’s war on Ukraine is affecting the EU’s relations with China, and encouraging the EU to be more open to the Global South, not least to try to persuade these countries not to back Russia in the military conflict. The war reinforces the need to maintain strong security relations with the United States at a time of increasing technological, economic and military rivalry between Washington and Beijing. The ...

Highlights of the April plenary session included debates on the need for an EU strategy on relations with China and on children forcibly deported from Ukraine. Other debates addressed: energy storage; labour mobility and the social rights of striking non-EU lorry drivers; adoption of the cyber-package proposals; a digital euro; and Dieselgate (use of defeat devices in cars to disarm pollution control systems). Members also held debates on: a possible EU global health strategy; universal decriminalisation ...

China is increasingly investing in key European infrastructure, including ports. This is something that has drawn attention at both EU and Member State level, in particular regarding strategic dependency on China and how it affects the EU's economic interests. This short briefing provides an initial overview of existing, publicly known Chinese interests in EU ports.

In December 2022, Japan announced important changes to its defence policy, including a strong rise in its defence expenditure in the period up to 2027. Although Japan had already introduced some changes to its foreign policy-making process under late Prime Minister Abe, the new security and defence strategies, together with the planned strong rise in defence spending – if implemented – would constitute the most drastic changes to Japan's post-war order since at least 1960 (US-Japan Security Treaty ...