Publication

This paper describes how the proposed replacement of the Trident class submarines and the development of a next generation aircraft carrier program in the United Kingdom represents a backward-looking vision of security. The authors outline how the 1998 Strategic Defence Review was a lost opportunity to consider the UK's role in the updated global security environment, failing to consider real alternatives, such as "Non-Offensive Defence" and marginalizing contributions towards common security through peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations in conjunction with other countries, under the auspices of the UN or the EU. The paper states that a comprehensive security approach would instead recognize the importance of human and environmental security, as complementary concepts to military security. The authors estimate that the total cost of Trident over the lifetime of the project to 2042 would be £78 billion and instead outline alternative ways to spend and invest such funds.