European Defense Research & Development: New Visions & Prospects for Cooperative Engagement

The enormous influence of technology on the conduct of modern warfare has been made obvious by recent conflicts in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Because current defense research and development (R&D) spending is a leading indicator of future defense technology, it is significant that Europe's investment in defense R&D is only one fourth that of the United States. The "R&D gap" continues to expand as the pace of U.S. spending accelerates while that of Europe remains flat. Moreover, the impact of European defense R&D is dissipated through fragmentation and duplications of effort in parallel national programs. The contributors to this volume consider the implications of this situation for tomorrow's European defense capabilities. They predict how the R&D gap could affect the future of transatlantic relationships and discuss the effectiveness of current efforts to rectify the problems. The book also discusses the prospects for expanded cooperation in defense research and development between the United States and its European allies. Contributors include Klaus Becher (European Union's Institute for Security Studies and Knowledge and Analysis LLP), Kenneth Flamm (Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin), Masako Ikegami (Center for Pacific Studies, Stockholm University), Jeffrey P. Bialos (Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins University – SAIS), David Gould (UK Defense Procurement Agency), Andrew James (University of Manchester, UK), Staffan Nasstrom (Swedish Defense Material Administration), Yves Boyer ( Fondation pour la Récherche Stratégique), Stuart Koehl (Center for Transatlantic Relations).