Quest for strategic autonomy? Europe grapples with the US-China rivalry

Lead editors: Mario Esteban, Miguel Otero-Iglesias, Cristina de Esperanza
Editorial working group: Tamás Matura, Nick Nieschalke, John Seaman, Tim Summers, Claudia Wessling

The intensifying rivalry between the US and China has reshaped Europe’s strategic calculations. This year’s report by the European Think Tank Network on China (ETNC) examines the geopolitical landscape in light of Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Russia’s enduring war in Ukraine. The report features 22 national chapters and one dedicated to the EU, analyzing the evolution of Europe’s relations with Washington and Beijing, the range of approaches in dealing with the US-China rivalry and how these are expected to evolve.

Each chapter is written by China experts who set out to address the same set of questions with respect to their country of investigation:

• What is the state and direction of relations with the US and China?
• How is the country dealing with growing frictions between Washington and China?
• To what extent might changes in political leadership change the country’s policies toward China and/or the US?

You can download the full report as a PDF here:

MERICS experts contributed the following chapters to this year's edition. Click to read them online:

• Beyond "Zeitenwende": US policies and the US-China conflict present Germany with historic challenges, by Claudia Wessling and Bernhard Bartsch
• Ireland between giants: Dublin’s strategy for surviving US-China tensions, by Alexander Davey

The European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC) is a gathering of China experts from a selection of European policy research institutes. It is devoted to the policy-oriented study of Chinese foreign policy and relations between China and European countries as well as China and the EU.