‘Perfidious Albion’? – British foreign policy in an age of strategic choice

‘Perfidious Albion’? – British foreign policy in an age of strategic choice

21 Mar 24
Posted by: Mid Joe Reilly RN
23 minutes, 38 seconds read
Message from the Editor

With a clear-eyed appraisal of historical trends since the 19th century, the author argues that, contrary to alarmist concerns of retrenchment, Britain today has more room to maneuver as a strategic counter-weight than has been the case for the last 80 years. Awarded the RUSI Trench Gascoigne prize and originally published in the RUSI Journal. A 25 minute read.

During the 2022 RUSI Land Warfare Conference, the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders, delivered a landmark speech in which he called for the comprehensive mobilisation of the British Army. Likening the war in Ukraine to the opening stages of the Second World War, Sanders suggested that Britain was experiencing “a 1937 moment,” and that a failure to act now would leave Britain with no good choices.[1] By this act, Sanders advocated for the preparation of the British Army to fight an imminent continental war. Such rhetoric has been well-received by those who see the return o…

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