Europe’s trade relationship with the Indo-Pacific region is the highest valued of any in existence, and yet its leaders are moving surprisingly slow when it comes to their announced ambitions in the region. This is partially due to geopolitical concerns as tensions mount between China and the U.S.

The United States is the biggest winner in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It’s using it to beef up and modernize its own military and economy. Everyone else has lost. No end is in sight, but one thing is certain: The longer the conflict lasts, the more the U.S. benefits.

A significant step in the Biden administration’s effort to realign NATO is the attempt to link the Atlantic and Pacific strategies. The U.S. is doing this in part by amplifying the so-called China threat in the Asia-Pacific and exporting the NATO concept of alliances against big powers.

What has evolved is a sort of pseudo-multilateralism in Europe and Asia. After the Cold War, ASEAN developed into a mature community. But with the increasing hype of regional tensions came the idea that Asia can only be safe when relying on a NATO-like military grouping featuring live ammunition.

Punishments of Russia cut both ways for the West and may even be self-defeating. The European and U.S. economies are suffering a backlash in rising energy prices, shrinking corporate profits and inflation-induced economic hardships.

Russia has quietly become a major player in Southeast Asia by arming and supporting many of China’s rivals. But strategic alignments in the region may soon change following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine leading to a growing dependence on China.

China may be on the rocks as it attempts to sort through its options and navigate the challenge that Russia’s invasion/war with Ukraine has created for them.

China’s close strategic ties to Russia make it hard to come out in full-throated condemnation of the violence in Ukraine along with much of the world. Yet there are actionable methods that China can use to try and help save lives of innocent citizens.

Fast-moving events are forcing the United States to adopt a more cooperative posture toward China, whose help it needs to meet the expectations of the international community. Cooperation has assumed increasing real-world importance.

The European Union has found itself ill-prepared to support its member states in the mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its unsuccessful course of action has cleared the way for China to establish critical diplomatic relationships there and rewrite geopolitics as we know it.