How can Europe increase its political influence in East Asia? Rather than either diffusing its governance model of European Union integration or choosing a position between conflicting parties based on proximity of values this article suggests that influence grows when East Asians learn from or even emulate European success stories of peaceful conflict resolution and regime transformation. It suggests that the (West) German Ostpolitik or Eastern policy is an example of such a success story. Whether it can be applied to conflicts in East Asia depends on a number of conditions such as timing, governments changing their perspectives on conflict resolution priorities, and tailoring the European conflict resolution template to normative-ontological assumptions on international relations that prevail in Asia.
European Foreign Affairs Review