Document

2025 - ALLIED COOPERATION IN THE INDO-PACIFIC

Spyridon KYRIAKIS (Greece) - REPORT

11 October 2025

This report was adopted by the Defence and Security Committee at the 71st Annual Session held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 

NATO’s interest in closer Indo-Pacific cooperation has intensified in recent years, particularly since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. NATO’s evolving partnership with the IP4 (Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea) reflects a recognition of growing cross-regional security challenges stemming from the alignment of China, North Korea and Russia: today, Beijing and Pyongyang are increasingly critical enablers of Russia’s war of aggression in Europe, underscoring how closely intertwined Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security has become. 

Allies recognise the profound economic and security consequences that could result from a sudden deterioration of stability on the Korean peninsula or a decision by China to use force against Taiwan. In response, NATO has sought – through words and actions – to demonstrate solidarity and pursue new, meaningful security cooperation with its like-minded Indo-Pacific partners. These efforts aim to bolster and defend the rules-based international order, which NATO Allies and the IP4 view as essential to stability and prosperity. 

As this report makes clear, the deepening alignment among China, North Korea and Russia highlights a critical dilemma for the Alliance. A Chinese use of force against Taiwan would likely compel Washington to balance simultaneously against threats from both Beijing and Moscow, forcing NATO’s European Allies to assume greater responsibility for deterring Russia. Renewed conflict on the Korean Peninsula would create a similar challenge. Such scenarios pose indirect but serious risks to NATO’s deterrence and defence posture in Europe – an issue that has increasingly preoccupied the Alliance in recent years, and one that will increasingly be at the centre of discussions as Allies await the results of the forthcoming US global posture review and focus on the deliverables for the 2026 Ankara Summit.

This report examines how the Indo-Pacific has risen on NATO’s agenda and offers forward-looking policy options to strengthen this increasingly vital cross-regional partnership. Key recommendations include: 

-   Increased European defence investments (in line with Allied commitments made at the June 2025 Hague Summit) to shift the burden-sharing to a more equal footing between Europe and North America in the Alliance – and to translate this to significantly stronger capabilities and agile forces capable of implementing the Alliance’s new regional defence plans;

-    Enhanced defence-industrial cooperation and collaboration between NATO Allies and their IP4 partners;

-    Expanded Allied military presence and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific;

-    Stronger unified strategic communications regarding NATO’s role in the Indo-Pacific to counter growing disinformation by China and North Korea;

-    Closer and smarter legal and maritime cooperation between NATO Allies, the European Union and the IP4 to uphold international law;

-    Continued diversification of critical tech and raw material supply chains to reduce dependency and reinforce NATO’s technological edge; and

-    Efforts to leverage growing NATO-IP4 cooperation to address broader challenges like climate change, hybrid threats, arms control and emerging tech governance. 
 


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