ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 acts as a bridge between the theoretical and the empirical part of the book. Indeed, it takes into account the major systemic changes in the defence-industrial landscape since the 80s. In this regard, the chapter discusses the phenomenon of defence-industrial globalization and, in particular, three distinct, though interrelated, developments: escalating weapons production costs; declining defence budgets and the gradual liberalization and internationalization of the defence-industrial landscape. The chapter aims also to clarify how systemic changes impacted on European countries’ defence procurement policies. Therefore, it investigates how France, Germany, Italy and the UK organize their state–defence industry relations and how they pursue their arms procurement goals. In France and Italy, states maintain significant shareholdings within their defence firms, there is a strong interpenetration between states and defence firms’ elite networks and the procurement agency acts as an interface between state and corporate preferences. In contrast, in Germany and in the UK, defence firms are privately owned, there is less interpenetration between political and corporate elites and the procurement agency is independent from corporate pressures. In other words, France and Italy can be defined as public governance ecosystems, while Germany and the UK can be defined as private governance ecosystems.
