ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

Can Singapore Help Europe Rethink Its Indo-Pacific Strategy?

Singapore has spent decades making itself indispensable to a global economy in which it has little control over the behavior of the major powers. Germany might be seeking to learn from that example.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong greets German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of their joint press conference in Singapore, Oct. 27, 2026.

On October 27, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Singapore with a message that Europe needs closer partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. Trade, underwater infrastructure, and industrial artificial intelligence may seem like separate policy areas. In fact, they expose the same problem: Europe’s prosperity depends on networks that it cannot secure or shape alone. 

Singapore has spent decades making itself indispensable to a global economy in which it has little control over the behavior of the major powers. Germany might be seeking to learn from that example.

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On October 27, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Singapore with a message that Europe needs closer partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. Trade, underwater........

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