The UK’s strategic reset gets…reset
A guide to the upcoming ‘Refresh’ of the Integrated Review
The Ukraine war has triggered a major review of British foreign policy but, yet again, the opposition parties are shut out until it’s over. Which is a pity because, as the record shows, the Labour Party party got it right first time.
The Intergrated Review published in March 2021 (IR21) was hailed as a “strategic reset” of British foreign policy. But when Liz Truss came to power, 18 months later, the threats had escalated so badly (and unexpectedly) that she ordered an urgent update: the reset needed a reset. For good measure she pledged to hike defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.
Under Rishi Sunak, the update — known in Whitehall as the “Refresh” — continues. But Truss’ 3% spending committment is now gone. So, too, is the windy language of the Johnson era, which had promised Britain would become a “science superpower”. We will stand up to our competitors, says Sunak, “not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism”.
What’s at issue now is: where to focus Britain’s defence, intelligence, aid and diplomatic clout in an environment where money is short, the threats are intensifying and the need for state-led technological innovation acute?
