This book has so far shown that the European Union (EU) has consistently sought to exercise structural power to influence the developments of third parties and the arrangements of regional and global governance to its preferences, and the (in)effectiveness of its foreign policy is inextricably associated with the internal character of the EU. This chapter showcases that the EU’s engagement in Asia—a region with several systemically important geopolitical and economic players and one of increasing relevance to European interests—is no different. As elsewhere, the EU’s search for strategic relevance in this region has been impeded by both internal and external factors. For now, its ‘pivot’ to Asia remains elusive.
