Abstract

The announcement of an “Asian Pivot” or “Re-Balancing” by President Obama and his then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011-2012 signalled a shift of US interests more to the Asia-Pacific region, in line with the growing importance of the region for global political governance and economic growth. This caused some concerns in Europe that the transatlantic alliance was being reduced to second place by Washington, and raised the question of whether the EU should follow suit with its own “Asian Pivot”. Making use of some recent thinking on the capabilities-expectations gap and grand strategy, this paper covers the debate on this issue, looking at the views and opinion that have been put forward, and asking what an EU “Asian Pivot” might mean in the current context.

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