Is the UK’s Expeditionary Posture both Necessary and Sustainable?

Abstract

As the UK's next general election looms closer, so too does the next Strategic Defence and Security Review. The last such review exercise in 2010 provoked extensive and widespread criticism – related to both its process and its outcomes. However, what was not called into question was the fundamental assumption on which the whole exercise rested: that the UK should maintain its full-spectrum expeditionary posture. James de Waal argues that, while the nuts and bolts of defence policy continue to be important, there is a much more significant, substantive debate to be had about the type of defence policy the UK should pursue.