ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by identifying the conceptual approach to understanding the process of change. It provides a conceptual assessment of the European consultation and cooperation process which emerged during the 1980s. The chapter examines the major spectrum of developments in the West European consultative process in the 1980s. It describes the significance of these developments for the future of the Western Alliance. The most overt goal of Europeanization is to construct a European "pillar" within the Alliance. A major focus of Europeanization in the 1980s was an upsurge in the quantity and quality of consultation. The process of European security cooperation has operated not only to create a European pillar or to create a European security identity, but to form ad hoc caucuses within the Alliance to shape Alliance policy. The process of European security cooperation became an integral component in the operations of the Western Alliance in the 1980s.
