Amid the Indo-Pacific's growing importance in global affairs, France will look to bolster the region's maritime security through a combination of multilateral dialogue and naval deployments, and its activism in the region will see it play a major role in shaping EU policy toward the region. Since publishing its first Indo-Pacific Strategy in 2019, France has significantly ramped up its naval deployments in the region, including through the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. Paris's emphasis on maritime security is rooted in the fact that its Indo-Pacific territories make up 93% of France's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the second largest in the world. This EEZ represents a major economic opportunity for both France and its overseas territories, and Paris's strengthened maritime presence has sought to tackle the growing threat posed to it by illegal fishing. But French capabilities for naval patrolling in the Indo-Pacific are nonetheless limited by the sheer...
