John Oxley: A serious defence policy demands serious political honesty
Who's accountable for the results?
John Oxley is a consultant, writer, and broadcaster. His SubStack is Joxley Writes.
In the 1870s, world attention was focused on conflict and shipping lanes. A Russian advance towards Constantinople threatened the Dardanelles and, with it, British access. Where now global affairs spawn memes, back then, the public engaged through music hall and pub songs. The threat of conflict spawned one of the most famous. As you monitored the situation, you’d have the GH McDermott refrain: “We don’t want to fight, but by Jingo if we do. We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.” It became so widespread that Jingoism became a shorthand for an aggressive foreign policy.
A century and a half later, and Britain’s position looks a little different. For sure, we do not want to fight. Public opinion remains against all but the most limited defensive action in Iran. More generally, we have become far more reluctant to incur casualties or deal out destruction. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proved especially chastening and unpopular. Those conflicts feel particularly pertinent here, as the US leads the way with little apparent strategy or plan. For old Jingoism, however, that all seems moot. Unlike the late nineteenth century, we don’t have the ships, the men, or the money.
Our funding for the armed forces has declined almost continuously since the end of the Second World War. Forces were scaled back during decolonisation and further cut as we realised the post-Cold War “peace dividend”. The Tories must accept the blame for further entrenching this through austerity. Spending on the armed forces was cut further, with troop numbers falling to the lowest levels since the Napoleonic Wars.
It is not just the men (or these days, personnel) that we lack. Numerous military observers have raised alarms about equipment and capability gaps. Defence expects, and retired Generals have questioned, whether we could actually field our Nato commitments without logistical support from other nations. Behind these headline concerns lie broader problems with recruitment and retention, military housing and the terrible woes of our defence procurement processes. The hurried deployment of HMS Dragon has indicated the strain that exists between our defensive ambitions and our capabilities.
We are also quickly learning that this is the more important part of the refrain. We may not wish to choose war, but we may not have a choice. The events of the last fortnight have shown how our interests can be drawn into conflicts that we have no role in starting. So does the continued threat of Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. We must be ready to respond when our enemies target us or our allies. Equally, if our ability to deter our adversaries is to remain …
Who's accountable for the results?
John Oxley is a consultant, writer, and broadcaster. His SubStack is Joxley Writes.
In the 1870s, world attention was focused on conflict and shipping lanes. A Russian advance towards Constantinople threatened the Dardanelles and, with it, British access. Where now global affairs spawn memes, back then, the public engaged through music hall and pub songs. The threat of conflict spawned one of the most famous. As you monitored the situation, you’d have the GH McDermott refrain: “We don’t want to fight, but by Jingo if we do. We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.” It became so widespread that Jingoism became a shorthand for an aggressive foreign policy.
A century and a half later, and Britain’s position looks a little different. For sure, we do not want to fight. Public opinion remains against all but the most limited defensive action in Iran. More generally, we have become far more reluctant to incur casualties or deal out destruction. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proved especially chastening and unpopular. Those conflicts feel particularly pertinent here, as the US leads the way with little apparent strategy or plan. For old Jingoism, however, that all seems moot. Unlike the late nineteenth century, we don’t have the ships, the men, or the money.
Our funding for the armed forces has declined almost continuously since the end of the Second World War. Forces were scaled back during decolonisation and further cut as we realised the post-Cold War “peace dividend”. The Tories must accept the blame for further entrenching this through austerity. Spending on the armed forces was cut further, with troop numbers falling to the lowest levels since the Napoleonic Wars.
It is not just the men (or these days, personnel) that we lack. Numerous military observers have raised alarms about equipment and capability gaps. Defence expects, and retired Generals have questioned, whether we could actually field our Nato commitments without logistical support from other nations. Behind these headline concerns lie broader problems with recruitment and retention, military housing and the terrible woes of our defence procurement processes. The hurried deployment of HMS Dragon has indicated the strain that exists between our defensive ambitions and our capabilities.
We are also quickly learning that this is the more important part of the refrain. We may not wish to choose war, but we may not have a choice. The events of the last fortnight have shown how our interests can be drawn into conflicts that we have no role in starting. So does the continued threat of Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. We must be ready to respond when our enemies target us or our allies. Equally, if our ability to deter our adversaries is to remain …
John Oxley: A serious defence policy demands serious political honesty
Who's accountable for the results?
John Oxley is a consultant, writer, and broadcaster. His SubStack is Joxley Writes.
In the 1870s, world attention was focused on conflict and shipping lanes. A Russian advance towards Constantinople threatened the Dardanelles and, with it, British access. Where now global affairs spawn memes, back then, the public engaged through music hall and pub songs. The threat of conflict spawned one of the most famous. As you monitored the situation, you’d have the GH McDermott refrain: “We don’t want to fight, but by Jingo if we do. We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.” It became so widespread that Jingoism became a shorthand for an aggressive foreign policy.
A century and a half later, and Britain’s position looks a little different. For sure, we do not want to fight. Public opinion remains against all but the most limited defensive action in Iran. More generally, we have become far more reluctant to incur casualties or deal out destruction. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proved especially chastening and unpopular. Those conflicts feel particularly pertinent here, as the US leads the way with little apparent strategy or plan. For old Jingoism, however, that all seems moot. Unlike the late nineteenth century, we don’t have the ships, the men, or the money.
Our funding for the armed forces has declined almost continuously since the end of the Second World War. Forces were scaled back during decolonisation and further cut as we realised the post-Cold War “peace dividend”. The Tories must accept the blame for further entrenching this through austerity. Spending on the armed forces was cut further, with troop numbers falling to the lowest levels since the Napoleonic Wars.
It is not just the men (or these days, personnel) that we lack. Numerous military observers have raised alarms about equipment and capability gaps. Defence expects, and retired Generals have questioned, whether we could actually field our Nato commitments without logistical support from other nations. Behind these headline concerns lie broader problems with recruitment and retention, military housing and the terrible woes of our defence procurement processes. The hurried deployment of HMS Dragon has indicated the strain that exists between our defensive ambitions and our capabilities.
We are also quickly learning that this is the more important part of the refrain. We may not wish to choose war, but we may not have a choice. The events of the last fortnight have shown how our interests can be drawn into conflicts that we have no role in starting. So does the continued threat of Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. We must be ready to respond when our enemies target us or our allies. Equally, if our ability to deter our adversaries is to remain …
0 Comments
0 Shares
41 Views
0 Reviews
