Ten years ago the British gutted their defense capabilities under the guise of studying it. Here we go again. But does it make some sort of strange sense for Britain?
You may recall the last time Britain reviewed their defenses. Leaner and meaner, indeed.
The ground forces envisioned in that plan were just sad even though I could see reducing heavy armor somewhat. The decline of Russia's army seemed to justify that.
But now the British in their new review of their defenses seems to think no tanks are necessary despite the rebuilding of the Russian army and the rapid expansion of Russian paranoid assertiveness.
Army procurement in Britain seems particularly dysfunctional:
The UK is now faced with a situation where more or less the entire British army’s equipment is obsolescent and needs replacing at the same time, there isn’t enough money in the budget to do it, and what funds as exist are in danger of being cut in the [Integrated Security and Defence Review].
The pending Ten-Year Rule 2.0 means Britain will be capable of nuking you or bombing you from the sea--if you aren't too capable with your anti-ship weapons. Other than that Britain is unable to impose its will on any actual enemy on the ground.
Still, I will say one thing in favor of the British trend despite my NATO-centric judgment. That is, with the proto-imperial European Union seemingly eager to punish Britain for Brexit, perhaps Britain feels it is going back to its historical roots of global trade and avoiding land commitments to the continent. See this piece that reminded me of that. Perhaps 1914 to 1989 was the historical aberration that Britain is now rejecting.
I'd still rather have British military power on the continent as a full NATO partner and worry that Britain seems to be ruling that out.
But Britain ultimately has little interest in protecting a continent under EU rule that treats Britain as a quasi-enemy--as long as the British can count on America to keep Europe safe. I hope that ultimately the EU will fail to become an imperial body and that America-led NATO will be the dominant political factor in Europe. Then perhaps Britain will see more of an interest in defending the continent through NATO.
But until then, we shall see if the British defense review allows that kind of thin global role that enhances British global trade and diplomacy.
