Defence Reform: Expectations and Implications

Abstract

Since the late 2000s, European governments have been required to embrace ‘defence austerity'. Across the continent, defence ministries have seen their budgets slashed and their structures ‘right sized'. Cuts have yet to peak and will continue, under known plans, for several more years. Europe’s largest and most agile military powers – including France and the UK – will see a historic reconfiguration of capabilities. In some cases, this will entail the stripping out of entire capabilities (the Dutch, for instance, are discontinuing their main battle tank force). At the same time, the US military is enduring its own downsizing, restructuring, and budget cutting, something that will impact directly on Europe as significant numbers of American troops are withdrawn from Germany and forces are repositioned to the Pacific theatre. Defence austerity raises significant questions. How will it affect the consolidation of the European and North American defense industrial bases? Are EU and NATO efforts at defense rationalisation reinforcing or do they generate external diseconomies? Is an inter-Alliance division of labour in defense acquisition and development of niche capabilities plausible after Libya? Is Europe willing and able to follow American defense reform and strategic reorientation? How will the problems of interoperability and standardisation affect the Alliance’s ability to execute expeditionary operations? This panel investigates the trends, expectations, and implications for defence reform as it plays out on both sides of the Atlantic.

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