My comments for CNN.
"The fact that the US is willing to spend more political capital and invest in security and defense ties with the UK and Australia before reaching out to EU powers is quite revealing," said Velina Tchakarova, director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy.
She added that despite many positive developments in understanding the importance of this region, "it is obvious that the EU must first become a security actor in the Indo-Pacific in order to be taken seriously by the partners in the Anglosphere."
Tchakarova said that hard decisions will need to be made by the major European powers on how much they want to isolate themselves from "their most significant transatlantic partner in their approach to the region and to China in particular."
She added that as the US-China battle for soft power escalates, Brussels' plan of "oscillating between Washington and Beijing will not work for the EU in the long run," if countries like France and Germany decide they want a closer relationship with their Anglosphere allies.