France ranks as the world's third largest arms exporter and supplies arms and military technology to over a hundred countries.This book exposes the compelling aims and interests--national independence, security, economic welfare, foreign influence, grandeur--that explain the nation's successes in arms production and transfers. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press.These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions.The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.