Focusing on conventional weapons, rather than nuclear, biological and chemical
ones, this book draws attention to important differences, within the EU, between
the trade in finished weapons and the technology used to make them. It examines
West European efforts since 1945 to manage both sides of conventional
defence-related trade, and the political, industrial, technological and
conceptual obstacles to effective mulitlateral co-ordination and regulation. The
book argues that, in current European and international circumstances, recent EU
initiatives have limited prospects and may prove to be counterproductive.>