Rivals in Arms: The Rise of UK-France Defence Relations in the Twenty-First Century

"As the UK leaves the European Union and as the multilateral order is increasingly under stress, bilateral security links are more important than ever. Among such relationships, the UK-France partnership has become particularly critical in the past decades. Alice Pannier's Rivals in Arms reveals the history of the growing, special partnership between Europe's two leading military powers in the twenty-first century. Using an innovative analytical framework rooted in theories of cooperation and negotiation, this book exposes the challenges the two countries have faced to develop, equip, and employ their military capabilities together. Through a decade-long study, Pannier highlights how France and the UK have endeavored to make their partnership more effective and resistant to domestic and international shifts, including Brexit. Building on more than a hundred interviews with key stakeholders and unmatched access to primary sources, Rivals in Arms takes the reader behind the scenes, investigating this complicated but crucial defence relationship between France and the UK--a relationship that is critical to the future of Euro-Atlantic security. Alice Pannier is assistant professor of European studies and international relations at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and associate research fellow at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI)."--