Written submission on the UK Strategic Defence Review (-)

Key Chapter Title List

1. Scope and Sequencing of the SDR24
2. From Power Projection to Defense: Reassessing the UK's Military Posture
3. The Middle East and Alliances with Authoritarian Regimes: The Dilemma of Military Presence
4. Alliance Transparency and Scrutiny: NATO, AUKUS, and Beyond
5. Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention: An Underutilized Option
6. New Technologies and Their Governance: Opportunities to Shape Norms
7. Nuclear Weapons Accountability: Costs, Decision-Making, and the Lack of Public Oversight

Document Introduction

This report was submitted in September 2024 by the UK non-profit organization network Rethinking Security. It aims to provide independent, critical policy recommendations for the UK government's ongoing Strategic Defence Review (2024-2025). The core concern of the report is that this review is detached from a broader examination of the National Security Strategy, which may lead to its conclusions becoming disconnected from the UK's long-term security, international legal obligations, and sustainable peace objectives.

The report first analyzes the fundamental procedural and scope-related issues of the SDR 2024-2025. The authors point out that this review was hastily initiated without the guidance of a new National Security Strategy. Furthermore, its terms of reference exclude in-depth deliberation on core issues such as the NATO alliance, nuclear weapons, the AUKUS agreement, defence commitments to key regions like the Indo-Pacific, and the target of 2.5% of GDP for military spending. This makes the so-called thorough review misnamed. The report emphasizes that without a comprehensive security strategy analysis, a defence review will struggle to fully consider the contributions of non-military means—such as diplomacy, development aid, and long-term peacebuilding—to security. It may even conflict with the government's stated primary goals, such as addressing the climate crisis.

The core analytical chapters of the report raise sharp questions about the cornerstone of UK defence policy since the end of the Cold War—the posture of global power projection. The authors argue that the UK's long-term prioritization of developing expeditionary warfare and offensive strike capabilities, rather than focusing on the direct defence of the homeland, Northern Europe, and the Northeast Atlantic, carries high opportunity costs and strategic risks. By detailing the UK's network of military bases worldwide (including in former colonies) and its ongoing military operations in the Middle East, the report reveals the negative consequences of this posture in terms of financial drain, entanglement in distant conflicts, exacerbation of regional tensions, and significant carbon emissions. The report particularly criticizes the discourse in the Integrated Operating Concept on using military means for competition below the threshold of war, questioning its legal standing and warning it could lead to the UK's military forces becoming overstretched and involved in more conflicts without clear strategy or democratic oversight.

The report further focuses on the UK's military presence in the Middle East and its alliance relationships with authoritarian regimes. The authors raise serious legal and ethical questions about the UK's reliance on military bases in the region and its continued provision of military and intelligence support to countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel, calling for a reassessment of the necessity and purpose of these relationships. Simultaneously, the report strongly advocates for increased transparency and parliamentary scrutiny of the UK's military alliances, particularly NATO and AUKUS. It recommends establishing a dedicated standing parliamentary committee to review NATO affairs and ensuring full debate on major agreements like AUKUS.

Regarding alternative approaches, the report argues that the SDR should recommit the UK to participation in multilateral peace support operations under the UN and others, recalling its successful experiences in places like Sierra Leone, North Macedonia, South Sudan, and Mali. Furthermore, the report calls for the UK to play a leadership role in regulating new-generation military technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous weapon systems, and to promote multilateral nuclear disarmament processes.

Finally, the report dedicates significant space to examining the accountability deficit in the UK's nuclear weapons program. The authors reveal the startling figure that the Defence Nuclear Enterprise is projected to consume nearly 39% of the defence capital budget over the next decade. They criticize the current state where major issues such as the program's costs and the potential return of US tactical nuclear weapons to UK soil are excluded from parliamentary and public scrutiny. The report concludes that if the SDR continues to avoid these fundamental strategic choices and accountability issues, its final outcome will be unlikely to genuinely serve the long-term security of the UK and its people.