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Multinational military operations in virtually all aspects of warfare
have played an increasingly prominent role in international security
policy since the end of the Cold War. As leading NATO-allies transform
their militaries with new technologies, doctrine, and organizational
structures, their ability to operate effectively in coalition military
operations is altered. The expanding rift in military capabilities
between the United States and its European allies is widened by
diverging budget trends, and prospects for joint military activity are
also undermined by the varying speeds that the military organizations
need to transform.
If Europe improved its military crisis management and the United States
loosened unnecessary restrictions on technology transfer, the rift in
military capabilities could be dramatically reduced. However, a
transatlantic dialogue must first address differing conceptual
orientations about: future risks and threats; the definition of
military tasks and required capabilities; the potential role of new
technologies in military tasks and capabilities; necessary defense
industrial and technology policies for bridging the gap. Arms
co-operation, which involves equipment sharing, holds the potential
foundation for interoperability and co-operability within the
transatlantic alliance. Thus this dialogue should culminate in a
discussion about the central impediments to arms co-operation,
especially concerning divergent defense technology transfer and export
control policies.
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