Expert Calls for Overhaul of UK Defence Strategy

The United Kingdom’s global defence role must be fundamentally rethought, according to a leading UK-based defence expert.

“The UK no longer possesses the financial resources or the political and diplomatic influence it once wielded,”

said Professor Paul Cornish in response to the country’s recently announced Strategic Defence Review (SDR).

Prof. Cornish is a defence and strategy specialist at the University of Exeter, a prestigious Russell Group institution. The university enrolls over 30,000 students and is ranked among the Top 15 in both The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 and the Complete University Guide 2025.

In light of today’s global security challenges, the professor stressed the importance of reassessing Britain’s traditional views on military purpose, stating:

“It is essential that our long-held notions about the purpose and value of our armed forces are tested against the contemporary world, and the one likely to emerge from the battlefields of the 2020s.

Different terms of reference are now needed, changing UK defence language and mindset from inputs – the percentage of national income allocated to defence – to output.”

He advocates for an

“output-oriented approach that would be fundamentally strategic rather than economic in nature.”

Such an approach, Cornish argues, should focus on developing and sustaining credible and capable armed forces. It must take into account the geographical areas where UK forces are likely to be deployed and the nation’s military partnerships.

Elaborating on the country’s shifting defence posture, he stated:

“The UK has neither the financial nor the political and diplomatic clout it once had. The UK’s strategic outlook must, necessarily, be more constrained. But it can also be cleverer.

There is a critical need for both coherent and complementary sea and land capabilities to meet crisis and conflict in years to come. Both naval and land power, as well as air, cyber and space power, are required.

Security policy should prioritise deterrence and NATO.

If the UK cannot afford a balanced set of military capabilities then the SDR must produce a strategic outlook that is, at least, honest. UK national strategy can no longer be based on legacy thinking; presumptions of success; a false interpretation of history (or indeed of current conflicts); a doctrine of technological supremacy; or unproven arguments.”