On Monday, 6 February 2023, CICP and the French Embassy in Cambodia co-hosted a public lecture on “French Indo-Pacific Strategy: Finding a Strategic Equilibrium in The Asia-Pacific” by H.E. Mr. Bertrand Lortholary, Director for Asia and Oceania Affairs of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic at the French Ambassador Residence.
There have been rising tensions in regional and global security which demand that there is a need for creative thinking on ways to revamp regional frameworks for defense cooperation. Priorities include better managing strategic competition, improving relations between major powers, and averting the risk of accidental conflicts which could destabilize hard earn peace and stability of the Asia Pacific Region. The Asia-Pacific lacks well-developed multilateral institutions for defense and security cooperation, while strategic trust is often missing among the important powers. Meanwhile, new ‘mini-lateral’ frameworks have emerged, suggesting an adaptive dynamic response to a changing regional security environment.
Here in Southeast Asia, anxiety is brewing over old and new quarrelsome security flashpoints that are considered to have latent consequences for peace and security of the region, for example over the ongoing contentious issues of the South China Sea, the Cross-Straits relations, North Korea nuclear program, the crisis in Myanmar, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Among the biggest concerns are the unyielding rivalry between the two most powerful countries of the world – the US and China.
This public lecture aims to highlight the major thrusts behind of the French Indo-Pacific strategy adopted since 2018 and the reason behind France’s strategic transformations observed in the Indo-Pacific region as France see herself as a stabilizing force, aspiring to promote the values of freedom and rule of law, as well as to provide solutions to the security, economic, health, climate, and environmental challenges facing by all countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
