The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region

EUVIP aims at bringing Europe more prominently in the Indo-Pacific through answering the puzzle: How can the European Union (EU), an economically influential actor who lacks military power, play a more significant role in the Indo-Pacific, and contribute to maintaining the multilateral, rules-based regional order endangered by the Sino-US power rivalry? Through its concise training, research, communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities EUVIP will significantly contribute to shaping the new, rapidly developing academic field of Indo-Pacific Studies. The project will raise the awareness of the stakeholders (academia, civil society, politics, and broad public) of the strategic, political, and economic significance of the volatile Indo-Pacific region for Europe and for a values-based European approach towards this region. EUVIP will build on Palacky University's strong expertise on Southeast Asia and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, supplemented by the complementary expertise of three leading European research partners (University of Helsinki, University of Copenhagen, and Université Catholique de Louvain). At the University of Helsinki, Julie Yu-Wen Chen, Professor of Chinese Studies will lead the research team while the library will offer training in areas that Palacky University needs, such as in Open Sciences.