April 03, 2018

As it frets over China, Europe is forgetting the real threat: Russia

Moscow poses a deeper, more immediate risk to EU unity.

By: Anthony Cho

Europe is right to be wary of China’s growing economic footprint on the Continent. Beijing’s attempts to nudge European policy in a direction that serves its strategic interest — and its selective interpretation of EU regulation — are issues that deserve long-term attention from policymakers. But while China is a concern, Europe should not lose sight of the immediate foreign policy crisis it faces: Russia.

To be sure, Beijing’s influence threatens to exacerbate existing divisions among EU members that already struggle to agree on a common foreign policy. In Eastern Europe especially, China is making inroads by investing in crucial infrastructure projects and could drive a wedge between national governments and Brussels.

China’s growing economic weight is inevitable: As Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one of the most enthusiastic proponents of Chinese investment, has said, the world economy’s center of gravity “is shifting from the Atlantic region to the Pacific region.” It should not surprise EU-watchers that China is seeking to expand its economic reach into Europe.

Read the full article at Politico

More from CNAS

  • Podcast
    • July 9, 2024
    Quantum Computing in US-China Competition

    A conversation between Bonnie Glaser and Sam Howell discussing the quantum computing, its applications, and its place in US-China competition.PRINT ARTICLEChina Global Podcast...

    By Sam Howell & Bonnie Glaser

  • Reports
    • June 11, 2024
    Catalyzing Crisis

    Executive Summary The arrival of ChatGPT in November 2022 initiated both great excitement and fear around the world about the potential and risks of artificial intelligence (A...

    By Bill Drexel & Caleb Withers

  • Commentary
    • Just Security
    • June 6, 2024
    Open Source AI: The Overlooked National Security Imperative

    Now a global technological superpower, China does not want to repeat the mistakes of its past and is actively positioning itself to be the world’s AI leader....

    By Keegan McBride

  • Commentary
    • The Washington Post
    • May 30, 2024
    To Win the Chip War, the U.S. Must Prioritize Revolutionary Research

    Taking big bets on moonshot technologies is the only approach that can sustain Moore’s law and guarantee that the United States continues to lead in the technologies of tomorr...

    By Jordan Schneider, Arrian Ebrahimi & Chris Miller

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia