Little Britain?

Little Britain? Twenty-First Century Strategy for a Middling European Power considers British national and defence strategy at a critical juncture in Britain's long history. The book is blunt; far from little, Britain is still a major power with the necessary power, resources and influence to help shape the world in which it resides. However, for Britain to protect its critical national interests London's High Establishment must re-establish a level of strategic ambition, competence and self-confidence appropriate for one of the world's still leading powers. Sadly, strategic competence has been lacking for far too long at the top of British government. Given the challenges and dangers Britain faces London must radically re-structure all of Britain's security structures if Britain is to apply all national means - governmental and non-governemental - in a hyper-competitive and dangerous twenty-first century. The British Armed Forces are the foundation upon which Britain's national strategy and influence stands. With the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 pending a choice must be confronted; does Britain still have the ambition to be a major military power or merely Belgium with nukes? If the former then a radically new force concept must be fashioned in the coming decade if the strategic brand the British armed forces still represent is to be preserved and expanded upon. The British future force must become a high-end core force able to support the US and act as a leadership hub for other allies and partners the world over. Indeed, only such an investment of British force will preserve the utility of NATO as US forces becomes ever more stretched. Britain's Future Force must thus come to look much like the US Marines Corps; joint, unified and expeditionary and equipped with the capacity and capability to act effectively across the seven domains of twenty-first century conflict - air, sea, land, cyber, space, information and knowledge. In other words, Britain needs a truly 7th generation military force and must have the imagination and commitment to generate such a force. SDSR 2015 will be proof of the choice that has been made. Little or Big Britain? That all depends on whether Britain's leaders and London's High Establishment are up to the challenge of a truly challenging world. They will need to be.