MEMO FOR : SP

FROM : DBM
RE : Strategic Partnership
DATE : May 4, 2017

Definition

A strategic partnership is a long-term interaction between two

countries based on political, economic, social, and historical factors. 1
These partnerships are commonly associated with defense or security
related issues. However, a survey of formal strategic partnerships
around the world reveal that strategic partnerships cover a wide range in
bilateral relations—from defense to education, health and agriculture,
and quite commonly, economic relations, including trade, investment,
and banking.2

The European Union (EU) has used the term “strategic

partnership” to frame its relations with a variety of important countries
but the basis of selection and the nature of relationship is not explicitly
defined. The concept of strategic partnership is only vaguely
conceptualized in EU usage but implicit in the notion of strategic
partnership is an element of long-term mutuality of interest and of joint
decision-making.3

Criteria

In a study entitled, “India’s Strategic Partners: A Comparative

Assessment,” it was concluded that the designation “strategic partner”
should only be used for countries with which there is a “strong and
mutually beneficial relationship” in all three sectors—political-
diplomatic, defense, and economic cooperation.

1
Gupta, A., Azad, S. (September 17, 2011), Evaluating India’s
Strategic Partnerships using Analytic Hierarchy Process, Retrieved from:
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/EvaluatingIndiasStrategicPartnershipsusin
gAnalyticHierarchyProcess_agupta_170911, Retrieved on: May 4, 2017.
2
Subramanian, N., “In the promiscuous world of international relations,
elements of a strategic partnership,” The Hindu, January 17, 2012.
3
Strategic Partnership as an Instrument of EU Foreign Policy –
Workshop Report (November 2015), Carleton University’s Centre for
European Studies and Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue.
 Another study4 provided the basic criteria of strategic partnership
as follows:

 Mutual and strategically important targets, or even vital interests;

 Common perceptions on targets and principles to develop strategic

partnership;

 Legal foundations for shaping strategic partnership between the

two countries, clarifying the contents of cooperation and legal
mechanisms to implement the identified contents of strategic
partnership;

 Demand for cooperation in the fields of strategic importance on the

basis of mutual interests;

 One country, which has advantages in some fields, should consider

the interests of the other, being ready to have concession and
support its partner, even in case of no certain benefits for its own;

 Parties should not have discriminatory acts or issue an ultimatum

towards each other;

 Proactively build mutual conceptions on values based on the

political system of the partner; and

 Effectiveness of strategic partnership must be supported by

political elites and social community, meeting the vital demands of
the people.

4
Identifying strategic partnership in globalization and international
integration era (September 13, 2016), National Defence Journal, Retrieved
from: http://tapchiqptd.vn/en/research-and-discussion/identifying-strategic-
partnership-in-globalization-and-international-integration-era/9297.html,
Retrieved on: May 4, 2017.