Untapped Trilateralism: Common Economic and Security Interests of the European Union, the United States and China

Abstract

In many respects, we live in a tripolar world. The European Union, the United States and the People’s Republic of China rank first, second and third respectively in gross domestic product (GDP) in the world, and together account for nearly 54 per cent of global GDP.¹ They are the three largest traders in the world and their total imports and exports account for 36 per cent of all global merchandise trade.² The members of the EU, China and the US account for more than 67 per cent of global military spending. In 2006–10, the US, China and just four EU countries (France, Germany, Greece and the United Kingdom) accounted for nearly 72 per cent of the global trade in major conventional weapons.³ The three parties’ combined populations make up about 30 per cent of the world’s 7 billion inhabitants. They are jointly the three largest emitters of greenhouse gases, with more than 56 per cent of total global emissions.⁴