The Post-Cold War Contraction of Western Europe's Armies : A Note

This note examines the four major West European military powers--namely Britain, France, Germany and Italy--with a focus on their post-Cold War contraction and restructuring; the numerous driving pressures and rationales of that process; and, in today's differing circumstances with their higher prospect of a major interstate conflict in the European region, the obstacles in the face of their shifting toward a force size and structure more closely resembling that of the Cold War era