To what extent can cultural, political and strategic differences between London and Paris be reconciled or circumvented, and how? How can this long-term and structural process of cooperation survive political changes?
France and the UK are unique in Europe as the only two nuclear weapon states and the only members of the United Nations Security Council. The biggest spenders in Europe on security and defence, they account together for almost half of overall European defence spending and almost two thirds in Research and Development. The two countries signed historic treaties in November 2010 to strengthen their defence and security cooperation.
FRUK Defence Forum
Chatham House is working with four leading policy institutes from both sides of the Channel, the Centre for European Reform (CER) and Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, and Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS) and Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI) in Paris to inform and stimulate the debate. Under the banner of the FRUK Defence Forum, the five institutes host a number of events and publish reports to guide discussion and increase understanding of the 2010 Franco-British treaties, as well as assessing their implications for domestic, European and international security and defence.
Funding is underpinned by MBDA, Boeing Defence UK Ltd and EADS (primary sponsors) and Lockheed Martin (additional support).