PROMOTING NORMS OR PROTECTING INTERESTS? THE ROLE OF DEMOCRATIC VALUES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION’S INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY
PROMOTING NORMS OR PROTECTING INTERESTS? THE ROLE OF DEMOCRATIC VALUES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION’S INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY

Summary/Abstract: The European Union (EU) has been perceived as a normative power (by itself and some others) in the international system. Through this concept, the EU’s policies and actions can be aligned with its identity, which is grounded in democratic values. Yet there is often a gap between those values and their practical implementation. The EU’s 2021 Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific offers an opportunity to test how well it is positioned to advance democratic norms in the world’s most economically dynamic and increasingly geo-politically contested region. This article argues that, while the Strategy reflects the EU’s foundational democratic values, it lacks clarity regarding the primacy of those values. As currently framed, the Strategy leaves the EU facing key unresolved democratic dilemmas in its Indo-Pacific engagement. The article concludes that the efficacy of the Strategy as a vehicle for bolstering democracy in the region will hinge on how it is operationalised, which will require confronting these dilemmas and making hard choices, especially between interests and values. Such choices are exemplary of a more general conundrum for the EU as an international organisation with 27 members whose interests often constrain the pursuit of its role as a self-consciously normative actor in international affairs.

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