Publication

As military budgets in Europe are shrinking, there is growing pressure to engage in defence and armaments cooperation. Concepts such as "Pooling and Sharing" or "Smart Defence" as well as a series of sub-regional initiatives aim to strengthen national military capabilities through pragmatic multinational cooperation. The author contends that while there are numerous challenges relating to "Smart Pooling", many countries in Europe have little choice but to make these projects work if they are to preserve the scope of action of their armed forces.