This is the end of the world considered the time “after the war”. The new era is the pre-war era, warns British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps.
The politician gave a speech on Tuesday in which he announced the beginning of a new era: the pre-war era.
– Thirty-five years ago, Margaret Thatcher gave a short speech here at Lancaster House. She spoke of her optimism about the changes taking place in relations between the East and the West. Just two weeks later the Berlin Wall fell. It was the dawn of a new era. Existential threats have been defeated. The new global feel-good factor has also spread to defence, Shapps said at Lancaster House.
The End of Enjoying the Benefits of the ‘Age of Peace’
He pointed out that the past decades were a time when we could enjoy the fruits of the “peace dividend.” – There was a view that while our defense should be maximized in times of tension, it could be minimized in times of peace. The conflict has of course not disappeared. However, because the continent was not threatened by any major power, peace seemed near, the minister said.
When the West was convinced of the ‘end of history’, its enemies chose a completely different tactic. – In fact, our opponents were mobilizing. The conflict-oriented autocratic state experienced a renaissance: after Vladimir Putin got away with the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Vladimir Putin launched a brutal invasion of Ukraine eight years later. And as Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine, China is watching whether the West will lose patience, the British politician analyzed.
– Today, new, and soon to be nuclear, powers have joined Russia and China. North Korea promises to expand its own nuclear arsenal. There is also Iran, where the enriched uranium content is as high as 83.7 percent, so a level that has no civilian use – he listed the threats.
Grant Shapps pointed out that even during the Cold War there was a sense that we were dealing with rational actors. – But these forces are much more unstable and irrational – he emphasized. – Putin relies on Iranian drones and North Korean ballistic missiles to fuel illegal bombing of Ukraine. Thanks to them, the world is becoming more and more dangerous, and has been so for the past few years. Some now argue that these threats are not existential to Britain. And yet what happens elsewhere could quickly happen here, the Defense Minister warned.
– In recent years we have witnessed terrorist attacks on the streets of London, attempted murders in Salisbury, theft of intellectual property and attempts to interfere in our political processes, caused by Putin – he summed up.
Hybrid war
The politician also drew attention to new types of threats: – In the online world, our opponents do not have to jump into a tank or submarine or attach themselves to a fighter plane to harm us. Cyberwarfare simply means hacking into our networks. Last year, almost a third of UK businesses suffered a breach or cyber attack. The total cost to the British economy is in the billions.
– We know that a significant number of these attacks come from Russia and China. Even mass migration can be cynically used against us as a weapon of war, as Poland, Norway and Finland have experienced, Shapps argued.
He said that “we are on the threshold of a new era.” – The Berlin Wall is a distant memory. The circle is round. We are confronted with a transition from the ‘post-war world’ to the ‘pre-war world’. We are waiting for the period of idealism to be replaced by a period of hard realism, the head of the British Ministry of Defense noted.
– Today our adversaries are urgently rebuilding their barriers. Old enemies come to life. New enemies take shape. War lines are being redrawn. Tanks are literally on the Ukrainian lawn of Europe. And the foundations of the world order are being seriously violated, he argued. According to him, we face a challenge: either give in to the sea of problems, or do everything in our power to avert the danger. – I believe there is actually no choice. To guarantee our freedoms we must be prepared, Grant Shapps concluded, emphasizing the need to strengthen the various pillars of defense.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
