Europe and the Global Arms Agenda: Security, Trade and Accountability

The development of the European Security and Defence Policy means that the EU also needs to respond to the global armaments agenda. However, as this book shows, this is a contested and under-researched policy space. There are conflicting pressures between the claims of trade and security. Should the EU armaments policy be aimed at securing defence industry competitiveness or military capabilities? Can it be autonomous or must it be transatlantic? What are the security priorities of the Union? Similar conflicts exist with the EU’s commitment to the global disarmament agenda. Are its policies weakened by the pursuit of agendas using armaments for security and economic gain? Another dilemma of politics in the age of globalisation is the contradiction between system effectiveness and citizen participation. This book asks if supporters of Europeanisation of armaments and disarmament policy are really considering the question of continued democratic accountability. The contributions to this book map these contradictory pressures by critically analysing the EU as an armaments actor, as a disarmament actor and finally as a provider of a democratically accountable armaments policy space.