Episode 18: The politics of European defence cooperation

Dr Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, Research Fellow for Defence Economics and Procurement, joins Dr Kori Schake for this episode of Sounds Strategic.The humanitarian crisis in Yemen as a result of the Saudi-led intervention, has brought unprecedented pressure on many European states to change their policies toward the export of military equipment. Lucie and Kori begin this episode with a discussion on why some European states have been more resistant than others in adopting these changes. Their conversation expands to recent efforts to develop European defence cooperation. In a challenge to the conventional wisdom on the topic, Lucie suggests that it is in fact France that is the blocking state in furthering intra-European arms development due to its stance on arms exports. Finally, Lucie explains the ground-breaking research, co-authored with Meia Nouwens, that enabled a detailed assessment of China’s growing arms manufacturing industry. This research has become so influential that it now contributes to Defense News’ annual “Top 100 Defense Companies” list.Reading Recommendations:Keith Krause, Arms and the State. Patterns of Military Production and Trade, (Cambridge University Press, 1992)Lucie Béraud-Sudreau and Meia Nouwens, ‘Weighing Giants: Taking Stock of the Expansion of China’s Defence Industry’, Defence and Peace Economics, June 2019Aaron Mehta, ‘Chinese firms bump down Western companies on Top 100 List’, Defense News, July 2019Favourite data visualisation:William Geary, ‘Visualizing US and Russian arms transfers from 1950 through 2017’, Arms Sales: USA vs RussiaWilliam Geary, ‘Visualizing U.S. arms transfers from 1950 through 2017’, The United States of ArmsDate of recording: 8 August 2019Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in LondonTheme music: ‘Safety in Numbers’ by We Were Promised Jetpacks

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