Whether you say tomayto or tomahto, you’ll likely be aware that things ain’t too great in Britain right now. The new government is grappling with tough choices brought about by dire economic challenges.
In rapid succession, Prime Minister David Cameron has rolled out three key documents relating to defense and security within that climate: a new National Security Strategy; a Strategic Defence and Security Review; and a budget review that cuts defense spending by 7.5 percent.
Jonathan Laurence and P.W. Singer of Brookings analyze these initiatives to see whether, as some believe, they signify a fading of the Anglo-American relationship or whether they are a pragmatic approach that helps secure the alliance through tough times.
As an Anglo-American, your editor must declare a special interest in the special relationship. Born on a U.S. Air Force base in eastern England to an English mother and an American father, I’ve now spent about half my life in each country. I still say tomahto, but I think in Fahrenheit.
Our other two main features in this issue look at seabasing and leadership. Cmdr. Greg Parker suggests it’s time to take a fresh look at seabasing that puts the concept in the context of 21st-century global needs.
Shanan Farmer, a Harvard national security fellow, shares insights gained from a study of servant leaderships skills within the military — an attribute personified by Gen. George C. Marshall.
In Perspectives, Col. Tony Kanellis offers ideas on how to continue use of the Army’s reserve component as an operational force beyond Afghanistan and Iraq.
Elbridge Colby and Tom Moore, meanwhile, call for the bomber leg of the nuclear triad to be preserved.
And Keith Kellogg and Tom Potendyk discuss one of war’s most distressing occurrences — fratricide — and show how this is a solvable problem.
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