Suchergebnisse

Italy is the only 'Big Four' European country and 'Quint' North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member ostensibly uninterested in the world's geopolitical and geoeconomic epicentre. However, a number of developments contradict the assumption that Rome overlooks the importance of the Indo-Pacific. By analysing official policies, naval deployments, new partnerships and evolving trajectories, this article reveals that Italy's strategic engagement with the Indo-Pacific is already significant and unfolding under three broad areas: (a) economy; (b) security; and (c) norms. It then assesses the benefits and risks of this developing foreign policy, and argues that the former outweigh the latter, a condition which is conducive to the establishment of an official Italian Indo-Pacific strategy. As the first scholarly work on the Italian role in the Indo-Pacific, this research makes a novel contribution to the literature on both Italian foreign policy and the Indo-Pacific security landscape, by investigating a complementary approach to that of existing Indo-Pacific strategies.

Australia is a significant yet contested actor in the Indo-Pacific region, whose new Labor government is presented with substantial opportunities but also significant challenges. These include deteriorating relations with China, strategic if polarising alignment with the United States and its regional allies, and undervalued ties with ASEAN, South Pacific and select European countries. If strengthened, such untapped relationship potential could boost Australia's declining soft power capabilities and improve both its image and outreach in the Indo-Pacific, without requiring any strategic distancing from Washington.