A strong Britain in an age of uncertainty PDF Download

Author: Great Britain: Cabinet Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780101795326
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
The national security strategy of the United Kingdom is to use all national capabilities to build Britain's prosperity, extend the country's influence in the world and strengthen security. The National Security Council ensures a strategic and co-ordinated approach across the whole of Government to the risks and opportunities the country faces. Parts 1 and 2 of this document outline the Government's analysis of the strategic global context and give an assessment of the UK's place in the world. They also set out the core objectives of the strategy: (i) ensuring a secure and resilient UK by protecting the country from all major risks that can affect us directly, and (ii) shaping a stable world - actions beyond the UK to reduce specific risks to the country or our direct interests overseas. Part 3 identifies and analyses the key security risks the country is likely to face in the future. The National Security Council has prioritised the risks and the current highest priority are: international terrorism; cyber attack; international military crises; and major accidents or natural hazards. Part 4 describes the ways in which the strategy to prevent and mitigate the specific risks will be achieved. The detailed means to achieve these ends will be set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm. 7948, ISBN 9780101794824), due to publish on 19 October 2010.

Author: Great Britain: Cabinet Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780101794824
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
This strategic defence and security review provides detailed information on how the Government plans to deliver the strategy outlined in "A strong Britain in an age of uncertainty: the national security strategy" (Cm. 7953, ISBN 9780101795326). Chapters cover: national security tasks and planning guidelines; defence; the deterrent; wider security; alliances and partnerships; structural reform and implementation. An adaptable posture is proposed, enabling a flexible response to highest priority risks, maintaining a deterrent, enhancing partnerships, constant review of longer-term risks and uncertainties. Eight cross-cutting national security tasks are identified. An outline force structure, Future Force 2020, is planned for defence. The Army will receive new armoured vehicles and strategic lift aircraft, better communications equipment, and more battlefield helicopters. The role and structure of the Territorial Army and other reserve forces will be reviewed. The Royal Navy will get new vessels, including two new aircraft carriers, though only one carrier will be designed for full operability with allies. The Ark Royal carrier will be decommissioned and Harrier jets phased out as new aircraft are introduced. Royal Air Force capabilities will be based around a fleet of Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter aircraft with supporting unmanned vehicles and an enhanced air transport fleet. The nuclear deterrent will be maintained, but the number of warheads on each submarine and in reserve will be reduced. Wider security covers terrorism, instability and conflict overseas, cyber security, civil emergencies, energy security, organised crime, border security, counter proliferation and arms control. Alliances and partnerships remain a fundamental part of the approach, including bilateral co-operation and multilateral engagement through NATO and the UN. Structural reform to ensure effective and efficient delivery of the strategy is described. Personnel reduction is to be: 5,000 Navy, 7,000 Army, 5,000 RAF, and 25,000 civilians.

Author: Timothy J. Oliver
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030809951
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
This is the first in-depth study of the foreign and defence policies of the Coalition, a government that saw the Conservatives restored to power for the first time since the Iraq War and the Liberal Democrats enter government for the first time. It explores the idea of Britain as a ‘Great Power’ since 1945 to show how the Coalition’s policies fitted into wider historical understandings of Britain’s role in the world. Drawing on a range of evidence from the time of the Coalition, it shows that this period was one of continued change in British foreign policy. The Coalition conducted the first strategic defence review since 1998, significantly reduced the funding allocations for defence and foreign affairs, raised overseas aid spending to record levels, engaged in overseas military action in two sovereign states (and were denied a chance to participate in another), as well as a wide array of other policies. This book argues that evaluating these events and the historical background of the Coalition is critical to understanding the current crises gripping British politics.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215561138
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
This report notes mounting concern that UK Armed Forces may be falling below the minimum utility required to deliver the commitments that they are currently being tasked to carry out let alone the tasks they are likely to face between 2015 to 2020 when it is acknowledged that there will be capability gaps. The Committee is concerned that UK Armed Forces will be continually operating at the maximum level envisaged by the Defence Planning Assumptions. The Committee is not convinced that this aspiration can be achieved by co-operation with our allies given the challenges of aligning political with operational needs. The SDSR identified seven military tasks and the Defence Planning Assumptions that underpin them. However the Review fails to show how decisions such as those on the Aircraft Carriers and Nimrod MRA4 will lead to the Armed Forces being able to undertake those military tasks. The Committee has serious concerns over the realisation of what is called "Future Force 2020", the Government's intended shape of the Armed Forces from 2020, particularly as the provision of the necessary resources is only a Government aspiration, not Government policy. The MoD must reform, and ensure substantially improved transparency and control over, its finance and budgetary practices. When committing to undertake new operations the Government should state from the outset where that operation fits in the Defence Planning Assumptions and which of the military tasks it is meeting. The Committee is concerned that the Government seems to have postponed the sensible aspiration of bringing commitments and resources into line, in that it has taken on the new commitment of Libya while reducing the resources available to MoD.

Author: Andrew M. Dorman
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804791570
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Providing for National Security: A Comparative Analysis argues that the provision of national security has changed in the 21st century as a result of a variety of different pressures and threats. In this timely volume experts from both the academic and policy worlds present 13 different country case studies drawn from across the globe—including established and newer states, large and smaller states, those on the rise and those in apparent decline—to identify what these key players consider to be their national security priorities, how they go about providing national security, how they manage national security, and what role they see for their armed forces now and in the future. The book concludes that relative standing and the balance of power remains important to each state, and that all see an important role for armed forces in the future.

Author: B.J.C. McKercher
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136664378
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 525

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Book Description
Despite post-Cold War arguments about their demise, ‘Great Powers’ not only continue to thrive, with lesser Powers they form the basis of the constellation of global politics. This topical new Handbook illustrates how and why the new international order has evolved – and is still evolving – since the end of the Cold War, through the application of diplomacy and statecraft. Including cutting edge contributions from over 40 scholars, the handbook is structured around seven sections: Context of Diplomacy Great Powers Middle Powers Developing Powers International Organisations and Military Alliances International Economy Issues of Conflict and Co-operation Through analysis of a wide range of case studies, the Handbook assesses the diplomacy and statecraft of individual powers, offering insights into how they function, their individual perception of national interests and the roles they play in modern statecraft. The contributors also seek to evaluate the organizations and contemporary issues that continue to influence the shaping of the new international order. A comprehensive survey of diplomacy across the world, this work will be essential reading for scholars and professionals alike.

Author: Neal Andrew W. Neal
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474450946
Category : Military policy
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Andrew W. Neal argues that while 'security' was once an anti-political 'exception' in liberal democracies - a black box of secret intelligence and military decision-making at the dark heart of the state - it has now become normalised in professional political life. This represents a direct challenge to critical security studies debates and their core assumption that security is a kind of illiberal and undemocratic 'anti-politics'. Using archival research and interviews with politicians, Neal investigates security politics from the 1980s to the present day to show how its meaning and practice have changed over time. In doing so, he develops an original reassessment of the security/politics relationship.

Author: The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research
Publisher: Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research
ISBN: 9948148320
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 69

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Book Description
Concepts and theories of war-fighting have evolved radically over the past twenty years, resulting in equally radical changes in military doctrine. Emergent non-conventional security threats have led to a proliferation of asymmetric conflicts, while new modes of virtual warfare have developed in the realms of cyberspace. The ECSSR 18th Annual Conference, The Future of Warfare in the 21st Century, held at the Center on April 9–10, 2013 in Abu Dhabi, and the resultant papers contained in this volume, explore how warfare may be affected by technological, strategic and civil developments in the coming years, particularly the revolutionary use of remote and autonomous systems on the modern battlefield, the budding application of cyber attack and defense strategies, and the future direction of intelligence operations in the 21st century. The authors also discuss political and civil influences on the future of warfare, particularly in terms of the evolving state of civil–military relations; the growing employment of contractors in contemporary conflicts; and the complex evolving relationship between defense industries and military establishments.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215071697
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
The Defence Committee says the Government must describe the circumstances in which the UK would intervene militarily in the future. A strategic and well-articulated vision of the UK's position in the world and the level of influence it is able to exert would lead to more rational decisions on whether or not to intervene as well as a better public understanding of the rationale for any such future decision. It would also assist in identifying the strategic objective of such operations, contributing to a more coherent UK foreign, defence and security policy. The Committee supports the Government's adoption of an "adaptable posture" in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. The threats to UK national security remain uncertain and unpredictable and it is important flexibility to deal with them is retained. The current main national security threat was from international terrorism, but the Committee calls on the Government to ensure that the next National Security Strategy gives due weight to the likelihood of a return to an increased threat of state versus state conflict. The Government needs to resolve the balance between Parliament's essential role as a strategic inquisitor on military deployments and the use of the Royal Prerogative in conflict decisions. The Government should commit to ensuring that a summary of the legal justification on military action is available to Parliament in advance of any debate. The Government should also set out how it intends to define and assess successful exit strategies and end states.

Author: G. H. Bennett
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474268404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
This book thoroughly explores and analyses naval policy during the period of austerity that followed the First World War. During this post-war period, as the Royal Navy identified Japan its likely opponent in a future naval war, the British Government was forced to “tighten its belt” and cut back on naval expenditure in the interests of “National Economy”. G.H. Bennett draws connections between the early 20th century and the present day, showing how the same kind of connections exist between naval and foreign policy, the provision of ships for the Royal Navy, business and regional prosperity and employment. The Royal Navy in the Age of Austerity 1919-22 engages with a series of important historiographical debates relating to the history of the Royal Navy, the failures of British Defence policy in the inter-war period and the evolution of British foreign policy after 1919, together with more mundane debates about British economic, industrial, social and political history in the aftermath of the First World War. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of British naval history.