Connectivity, including infrastructure development (‘hard connectivity’) as well as regulatory measures, the digital field, people-to-people ties, etc. (ʻsoft connectivity’), is increasingly becoming an area of great-power competition. A key driver has been China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a large-scale project based on foreign investments and infrastructure development in third countries launched in 2014. This article zooms in on how the European Union and Japan have sought to propose an alternative model by creating a Partnership on Sustainable Connectivity and Quality Infrastructure in 2019. The article starts off by defining connectivity and elaborating on its link with geopolitics. It depicts connectivity as a theatre for both cooperation and competition, including by way of an analytical framework comprising six spheres and six logics. After sketching the synergies, complementarities and shared interests, the article surveys the EU-Japan partnership’s progress on the ground. The concluding sections outline limitations and possible ways forward.
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