SEOUL – The West’s eastward shift – or pivot or tilt, depending on which capital you are sitting in – is accelerating.
On Wednesday, Japan revealed that the 11 members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, a regional free-trade grouping, would start negotiations on the entry of the United Kingdom.
That announcement came only hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking on Tuesday, urged NATO to take a more robust eastward-looking stance toward China.
These developments come against the backdrop of a multiplicity of dynamics that are driving increasing Western engagement in the Indo-Pacific.
