"Europe, the United States, and their Defense Industries: Prospects for Transatlantic Cooperation"

This paper compares the post-Cold War restructuring of the defense industries in the United States (US) and Europe with the aim of understanding the implications for the transatlantic industrial base. We argue that different processes of industrial restructuring and consolidation present obstacles to transatlantic initiatives, and that government policies and conflicting political visions at both the national and European Union (EU) levels exacerbate the opportunities for collaboration between the US and Europe. We assess the extent to which the restructuring of the US and European defense industrial bases has uprooted national champions and, assisted by global competition, provided an industrial foundation for more extensive transatlantic cooperation. We conclude that a ‘bipolar’ defense market, consisting of relatively strong firms in the US and Europe, is the most likely scenario in the near term