Wally Struys
Abstract
Defence Economies in Small and Medium-Sized Countries “In the past, I’ve worried openly about NATO turning into a twotiered alliance: (…) between those willing and able to pay the price and bear the burdens of alliance commitments and those who enjoy the benefits of NATO membership (...) But Don’t Want to Share the Risks and the Costs2 By this statement in his farewell speech, Robert GATES had specifically NATO’s European members in his collimator. He was not the first, nor the last to castigate the tendency of some European countries to act as free-riders in the Alliance. In this context, the present editorial focuses on the specific responsibilities and problems of Small and Medium-sized Countries (SMCs) in Europe and addresses more precisely the efficiency and effectiveness issues of defence spending and defence equipment acquisition.