ABSTRACT
The twelve member states that make up the European Community (EC) are seeking to reform much of Western Europe's internal market by 1992. The Single Europe Act, signed in February 1986 and subsequently ratified by the national parliaments of the member states, was the first major reform of the EC since the founding Treaty of Rome in 1957. The aim of EC officials is to use the momentum of economic reform to establish a more coordinated and assertive community role in international affairs. While the Western European Union remains an embryonic organization, it is viewed by some EC officials as a potential appendage of the European Community—or, in the common coinage of contemporary European officials, a budding "second pillar" for the defense of Western Europe. Within some official circles, strategists are calling for increased US-Pacific Basin cooperation as a counterpoise to Europe 1992.
