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cover of episode Can the UK afford to defend itself from Russia?

Can the UK afford to defend itself from Russia?

2025/6/6
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Battle Lines
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Lord Robertson: 作为战略国防评估报告的作者之一，我认为我们团队由政治家、外交政策专家和军事将领组成，带来了专业知识、认知和独立思考能力。我们的目标是打破常规，因为我们的对手们并不按常理出牌。我们与国防部合作，获得了所有敏感信息，并认真听取了各方意见。经过十个月的深入研究和咨询，我们提出了正确的建议，其中一些可能会让政府感到不舒服，但这些建议都带有时间表，反映了紧迫性和重要性。这份报告不仅关注当前的问题，更着眼于未来，旨在帮助我的孙辈及其后代应对他们将面临的挑战。我们希望避免仅仅通过军队人数来评判英国的国防，而是关注如何改进国防交付体系，确保实现建造潜艇等目标。我们还强调需要改变对预备役部队的文化观念，并重振预备役的概念，适当训练和装备他们，以形成足够的规模。

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This chapter discusses the UK's new Strategic Defence Review, a 45,000-word document covering various aspects of defense. It highlights the controversy surrounding the proposed increase in defense spending and introduces Lord Robertson, one of the report's authors.
  • The Strategic Defence Review is a 45,000-word document covering air, sea, land and cyber warfare, national resilience and the concept of how Britain's government and public should think about war.
  • The government aims to increase defense spending by 2.5% by 2027 and 3% in the 2030s.
  • Many NATO allies expect the UK to spend significantly more.
  • The review includes timelines for its recommendations, reflecting the urgency of the situation.

Shownotes Transcript

Lord George Robertson, former Nato Secretary General and lead author of the UK's new Strategic Defence Review, talks to Roland about what it will take for Britain to be warfighting ready. 

His message is a vital clarion call for the British government and general public to wake up to the very real threat posed by Russia and the scale of change that needs to be undertaken: "This is not business as usual."

But with President Donald Trump's call for spending 5% of GDP on defence likely to be adopted by Nato later this month, is a commitment of 2.5% and an ambition of 3% by 2034 enough? And are ordinary British people ready for the sacrifices involved in creating a credible deterrence to protect the UK?

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