Abstract
Since 2010, the UK government has conducted a strategic review at
five-yearly intervals, a pattern which it has maintained, at least
formally, despite the strategically destabilising effects of Brexit and
the Trump administration. Accordingly, on 26 February 2020 the Prime
Minister announced the next iteration, albeit one which would he
maintained go ‘beyond the parameters of a traditional review’. COVID-19
understandably delayed the publication of the Integrated Review until
March 2021. This article examines the results, using the prism of
strategy to examine the review’s coherence. Global Britain in a Competitive Age
is as aspirational as its original ambition suggested it should be, but
is light on specific policies and their delivery. The accompanying
publications from the Ministry of Defence contain more substance, but
their implications are not sufficiently aligned with either foreign
policy or the possible eventuality of armed conflict, nor do they allow
for capabilities commensurate with the scale of the task which ‘Global
Britain’ anticipates.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 161-177 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Journal of the British Academy |
Volume | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 22 Jun 2021 |
Keywords
- Strategy
- Foreign policy
- Defence policy
- Integrated operations
- Deterrence
- Resilience