Head of UK Armed Forces: Eurozone Crisis Could Pose Military Threat
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The ongoing eurozone debt crisis is the single greatest threat to Britain’s current state of national security, claimed the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards on Wednesday.
“I am clear that the single biggest strategic risk facing the UK today is economic rather than military,” said Richards in his end of year analysis speech in London, as quoted by AFP.
The ongoing eurozone debt crisis is the single greatest threat to Britain’s current state of national security, claimed the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards on Wednesday.
“I am clear that the single biggest strategic risk facing the UK today is economic rather than military,” said Richards in his end of year analysis speech in London, as quoted by AFP.
[quote]”This is why the eurozone crisis is of such huge importance not just to the City of London but rightly to the whole country and to military planners like me,” he said. “No country can defend itself if bankrupt.”[/quote]According to The Telegraph, senior British commanders and officials have been concerned that recent plans by the US to cut its defence spending could soon be followed by similar action by the rest of the UK’s allies in Europe and elsewhere.
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Reductions in their allies’ military capabilities could also put a greater burden on Britain’s stretched forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere, it is feared.
Last month, British embassies within the eurozone were told to prepare emergency plans for the demise of the euro and the possible civil disorder that could follow. General Richards also questioned whether European economies could sustain their armed forces’ capabilities in such troubled economic times.
[quote]“What impact will fiscal restraint and slow recovery have on European defence capabilities?’’ he asked.[/quote]Related: Citizens of Europe to Bear the Cost for Damages They Didn’t Cause: Raghuram Rajan
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Already, shrinking defence budgets have forced the UK to seek military alliances with a broad range of nations, a trend likely to continue, according to Richards.
[quote]”Our collaboration with countries in the Gulf and Africa has delivered results in the region for surprisingly little cost,” he said. “Perhaps we should be focusing our defence relationships on these regions rather than competing for influence with many others, for example China or India.”[/quote]“It will mean taking risk. But managing risk is ultimately what we do and none of us in the Armed Forces are discomforted by the challenge,” he added.
