Defence case Security plan seeks balance between prudence and practicality

Strategic review is clear on the dangers facing Britain, but less so on how to fund a muchneeded military upgrade

- Dan Sabbagh

Britain may not be at war, but the backdrop to the new strategic defence review announced on Monday is the greatest geopolitical uncertainty since 1945. A set of loosely interconnected conflicts led by Russia's assault on Ukraine and its shadow war in Europe, and Israel's war on Hamas, which may lead to an attack on Iran - have not been restrained by a skittish White House with little interest in helping to promote peace in Europe.

One of the three-strong review team was Fiona Hill, who was an adviser to Donald Trump in his first term. She is so worried about the disintegration of postwar norms that she believes the world is drifting towards a "scenario that you had in world war one" where, in the run-up to the war, "suddenly all these different interests and these different conflicts became, you know, basically intertwined with each other, [and] it becomes extraordinarily hard to disentangle".

Labour's defence review is full of contradictions. It paints a picture of a more dangerous world, with Britain facing "multiple, direct threats" to its own security, particularly from nuclear-armed states such as Russia and China, and warns that the west's "long-held military advantage is being eroded".