The United Kingdom’s maximalist concept of the Indo-Pacific

Source: https://www.state.gov/indo-pacific-strategy/
Valérie André, Aix-Marseille Université, LERMA
Unlike France, the United Kingdom cannot claim to be of the Indo-Pacific. Since the decision to withdraw from East of Suez in 1967, its presence in the region has been residual. Echoes of its imperial past lingered on in the so-called “historic relationships” it now seeks to revive and build upon. Traces of its presence also endured in former imperial outposts repurposed to fit into the defence and security system of the Free World. In March 2021 the publication of the British Government’s Integrated Review, Global Britain in a Competitive Age, represented an effort to reconceptualize Britain’s place in the world as a middle-ranking power with global ambitions. It also marked Britain’s return East of Suez through the so-called ‘tilt’ to the Indo-Pacific. The Integrated Review 2021 went some way toward providing greater clarity to the unsubstantiated claims to global relevance of the somewhat loose post-Brexit ‘Global Britain’ narrative. Two years later, the Integrated Review Refresh of 2023 was a response to critics who deplored the lack of substance of the Government’s Indo-Pacific policies and endeavoured to provide a greater sense of focus.
Since March 2021, statements of intent have materialized as the United Kingdom sought to reinvent itself as a burden-sharing power, committed to the defence of a rules-based international order in a new strategic environment. Britain has increased its footprint in the Indo-Pacific in military, diplomatic and commercial terms. Its contribution to the defence and security of the region and of an open and free maritime trading order was greatly enhanced through AUKUS, the 2021 minilateral security pact between the US, the UK and Australia. In January 2023, Britain and Japan ratified a bilateral Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) deemed the most significant defence pact between the two nations since 1902. In May 2023, “a landmark new global strategic partnership”, the Hiroshima Accord, was signed by Rishi Sunak and the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida.[1] Britain’s participation in large multilateral organisations such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership was eventually officialised in July 2023 and the United Kingdom became the 11th ASEAN dialogue partner in August 2021. Post-Brexit Britain’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific was recently confirmed by the Labour government elected in July 2024. The new Foreign Office Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Catherine West, described the ‘tilt’ as “a generational mission, a long-term strategic posture, not just a short-term shift for the sake of soundbites”.[2]
The British Government’s vision of the Indo-Pacific stretches from the coastline of eastern Africa and the Persian Gulf[3] to Pitcairn and the West Coast of the United States of America with a special focus on Southeast Asia. Britain’s maximalist concept of the Indo-Pacific space can be seen as a reflection of geopolitical imaginings of exceptionalism which filter through passages of the Integrated Review 2021 where it is stated that the United Kingdom is “the European partner with the broadest and most integrated presence in the Indo-Pacific”.[4] Besides raising familiar concerns over military and diplomatic overstretch it can also be interpreted as a symptom of the United Kingdom’s attempt to reconcile potentially antagonistic role conceptions as senior partner in the US-led confrontation with China, advocate of a reinvigorated multilateralism in the Indo-Pacific and responsible stakeholder in the development and prosperity of the region.
[1] The Hiroshima Accord includes “new agreements on defence, trade and investment, science and technology collaboration, and joint work on tackling global issues like climate change”. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-hiroshima-accord
[2] The UK’s Indo-Pacific policy: FCDO Minister’s speech to the IISS, India House, London, 25 November 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-uks-indo-pacific-policy-fcdo-ministers-speech-to-the-iiss
[3] Base to the United Kingdom Joint Logistics Support Base (UKJLSB) in Dumq port, Oman.
[4] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-integrated-review-2021
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
OREMA (16 mars 2025). The United Kingdom’s maximalist concept of the Indo-Pacific. OREMA. Consulté le 8 février 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/13hn6
