Research for Politics

The Center for Naval Analyses has been examining current issues and future prospects in the Western Alliance since June 1984. The aim is to better inform U.S. Navy policy initiatives and long-range planning for the European theater, by helping to define the planning environments, opportunities, and limitations the Navy may have to face in the decade ahead. While affairs of Alliance are of prominent interest, the examination has not been confined to NATO per se. On the theory that politics among nations begin with politics and related developments within nations, the study has also considered influences on, and frames of reference for, the evolution of national defense policies in individual Alliance member countries. This research memorandum, part of a series of CNA papers on future directions of the Western Alliance, is concerned with these national policies. This particular report looks at six European allies in terms of their own defense aspirations, domestic constraints, and policy choices in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The focus is on those key factors most likely to influence the security priorities and postures of each of the six. The six are France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Spain.