Organizing European Cooperation : The Case of Armaments

The emergence of a European policy on armaments is an important and politically controversial component in the building of Europe. This book serves as a useful tool for those trying to understand the interaction between two European organizational fields - market and defense - and the emergence of a European organizational field on armaments.

The emergence of a European policy on armaments is an important and politically controversial component in the building of Europe. Should European cooperation on armaments be designed from a market and a competition perspective, and according to supranational decision making? Or is it the emerging European defense policy and intergovernmental decision-making style that should determine such cooperation? The controversy and tension between the ways of framing this issue highlight fundamental questions in European politics. Organizing European Cooperation shows that the issue of armaments has been conceptualized within two different projects of European integration: the political economy project, developed through the EC, and the defense and security project, organized through NATO, the WEU, and recently through the EU. By employing an innovative theoretical framework for the empirical analysis of European politics the author''s analysis of both public actors, such as the Council, the European Commission, and NATO, and non-state actors, such as aerospace companies and business interest organizations, makes this book a valuable tool for anyone trying to understand the interaction between two European organizational fields-market and defense-and the emergence of a new European organizational field on armaments.