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UK EYES A
the UK which might be exploited for the promotion of stability. The EC is expected to develop as the UK's most significant politico-economic commitment. It will
increasingly be regarded as an entity by outside nations and its members will share certain security interests, such as access to energy supplies. There is EC provision for the discussion of security issues but no mechanism for the coordination of military action, and most members' primary security commitment is currently to NATO. That alliance is structured specifically to counter a commonly perceived threat from the WP and is unlikely to extend its geographical area of operation, though considerable interoperability and a habit of cooperation which has evolved between NATO allies should facilitate bi- and multi-lateral operations 00A.
The WEU, with its more restricted membership based upon the modified
Brussels Treaty, offers a political forum which could be
developed to promote defence co-operation 00A between its signatories without prejudice to the primacy of NATO. if the EC's future composition should enable it to develop both a clear security identity and the means of making it
effective, the WEU would become redundant. In the interim it would be prudent to support it.
However
16. of our individual allies, the US and France are the most
likely to retain world-wide security interests. The former will remain a superpower with global power-projection capabilities, though constrained by budgetary considerations which will probably require a reduction in the numbers of US forces stationed overseas and may jeopardize the forward stockpiling of duplicate equipment, as in the BIOT for
CENTCOM. However, it is likely to continue to regard both the need to protect its interests and its rivalry with the Soviet Union as world-wide. This may have burden-sharing implications for the US' allies, but should provide an element of stability in the strategic framework within which the UK
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UK EYES A SECRET