{"id":42946,"date":"2020-01-13T16:16:18","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T16:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/13\/what-keeps-britains-defense-secretary-up-at-night\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:34:13","slug":"what-keeps-britains-defense-secretary-up-at-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2020\/01\/13\/what-keeps-britains-defense-secretary-up-at-night\/","title":{"rendered":"What keeps Britain\u2019s defense secretary up at night?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LONDON \u2014 Britain\u2019s defense secretary has warned that the military may have to fight future wars without the help of the United States if the ally withdraws from leading Western defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The assumptions of 2010 [Strategic Defence and Security Review] \u2014 that we were always going to be part of a U.S. coalition \u2014 is really just not where we are going to be,\u201d Ben Wallace said in an interview with the Sunday Times on Jan 12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justifying Britain\u2019s need to rethink how much it can rely on its key ally in the future, Wallace said: “Over the last year we\u2019ve had the U.S. pull out from Syria, the statement by [U.S. President] Donald Trump on Iraq where he said NATO should take over and do more in the Middle East<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thought of the U.S. relinquishing its leadership role \u201ckeeps me awake at night,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would be bad for the world and bad for us,” he added. “We plan for the worst and hope for the best.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British government recently began a thorough review of the currently underfunded military, a move that could radically reshape the armed forces and their capabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wallace also used the interview to make a pitch for investment in capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are very dependent on American air cover and American intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. We need to diversify our assets,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howard Wheeldon, of defense consultancy Wheeldon Strategic Advisory, said he admires the underlying tone of Wallace\u2019s interview, affordability will remain a serious stumbling block. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo believe that even if we have now raised our international ambitions and accepted the need for raised presence that, all of a sudden, we are going to reverse decades of scaling back defense capacity is quite frankly at odds with Downing Street and Treasury messaging,” Wheeldon said. “Thus, whilst I might love the gist of a belief to be less reliant on others and spend more on developing what we believe we might need in the future, it will take a lot more convincing that what Mr. Wallace is attempting to say is merely anything more than an effort to balance what others are suggesting in the form of further defense cutbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t