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Common Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic: A Korean Perspective
Editor's Note
In-Hwan Oh, Senior Research Fellow at the East Asia Institute (EAI), diagnoses the current world order not as a new Cold War or multipolarization, but as an 'unstable hybrid order' where the US and China compete without strategic agreement. The author explains that explicit recognition of this reality can help middle powers build a foundation for cooperation to rectify the flaws of the past international order, moving beyond the misconception that the NATO-IP4 (Indo-Pacific 4) partnership is an 'Asian NATO.' Dr. Oh suggests that the NATO-IP4 partnership should deepen practical cooperation in areas such as the maritime industry ecosystem and emerging technologies, and increase transparency in engagement with China, thereby preventing global fragmentation and strengthening connectivity.
| Hub Introduction 'Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic Common Security Challenges Hub' is a virtual network connecting think tanks and universities from South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand with NATO countries interested in fostering understanding of common challenges between the two regions. This public diplomacy initiative is supported by NATO Headquarters and is open to relevant stakeholders from both regions. Interested institutions, research institutes, companies, or organizations are encouraged to contact Dr. Pietro De Matteis, Public Diplomacy Officer for the Indo-Pacific at NATO Headquarters (dematteis.pietro@hq.nato.int). Current network participants include: - South Korea: East Asia Institute (EAI), Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Sejong Institute. - Japan: Economic Security Information Research Office, Center for Research into Creation of Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo; Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA);庆应义塾大学 Keio Center for the Study of Strategic Decision Making. - Australia: Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), National Security College at the Australian National University. - New Zealand: Centre for Strategic Studies, New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Asia New Zealand Foundation. |
■ View Original Article on ASPI Website
The current world order is not returning to a new Cold War or a bipolar system, as is sometimes easily suggested. Despite supply chain realignments due to de-risking policies, the world, including the United States and China, remains deeply economically integrated, unlike during the Cold War era. The rhetoric of multipolarization also fails to accurately capture the current landscape. Excluding the US and China, it is difficult to identify poles with comparable strategic weight. Russia may be a legacy great power with strategic nuclear weapons and regional influence, but it is difficult to consider it as having strategic influence of the same magnitude as the US or China.
Instead, the order we are currently witnessing is an unstable hybrid order, characterized by the competition of divergent organizing principles advocated by the US, China, and Russia without strategic agreement. Explicitly recognizing this reality is a crucial starting point for the NATO-IP4 partnership. This recognition neutralizes misinformation that frames the NATO-IP4 as an 'Asian NATO' or bloc politics, while simultaneously strengthening the basis for cooperation. On this foundation of recognition, middle powers in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic can strive to collectively reshape the world order in a way that rectifies past deficiencies.
Despite differing threat perceptions across the two regions, middle powers, who have benefited most from the post-Cold War order, face a common challenge of readjusting the global order. The NATO-IP4 partnership provides a platform for functional cooperation in security, defense, industrial resilience, and emerging technologies and AI regulation. Furthermore, NATO-IP4 member states and NATO continue to engage with China at bilateral and multilateral levels. Enhancing transparency in engagement with China, while simultaneously strengthening concrete cooperation within the NATO-IP4 in areas such as the maritime industry ecosystem, protection of critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, and technological standards, will undermine misinformation and enable the NATO-IP4 partnership to make a significant contribution to connecting different regions of the world. ■
This contribution was prepared with the support of NATO; the responsibility for the content rests with the author.
■ In-Hwan Oh_Senior Research Fellow, EAI; Lecturer, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Seoul National University.
■ Contact and Editing:Sangjun Lee_Research Fellow, EAI
For inquiries: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 211) | leesj@eai.or.kr
*This text is an AI translation of an original written in Korean. Some translations or nuances may be inaccurate.