The Economics of European Defence: Some Additional Insights

The French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS) is one of the main independent European Think Tanks on geopolitical and strategic issues.

IRIS, a public-interest association created in 1991, is a French think tank on geopolitical and strategic issues. It is the only international think tank to have been set up as a totally private initiative in an independent approach. IRIS activities can be divided into four fields: research, organisation of events and meetings, publishing and training.

The Armament Industry European Research Group (Ares Group) was created in 2016 by The French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), who coordinates the Group. The aim of the Ares Group, a high-level network of security and defence specialists across Europe, is to provide a forum to the European armament community, bringing together top defence industrial policy specialists, to encourage fresh strategic thinking in the field, develop innovative policy proposals and conduct studies for public and private actors.Brexit and budgetary constraints will offer possibilities, at least from a theoretical point of view, to foster cooperation among European countries from both an industrial and a policy perspective. Economic theory is useful in order to provide ways to increase efficiency.

This comment is an attempt to evaluate a number of economic principles applied to the economics of defence.

IRIS: ARES – Armament Industry European Research Group http://www.iris-france.org/ares/

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