What's the current state of the UK's armed forces?

About this episode

The episode examines the current state of the UK's armed forces in the context of contemporary global conflicts.

As contemporary hi-tech wars rage - Russia and Ukraine and the US-Israel war with Iran - The Briefing Room takes a hard look at the UK's armed forces. After telling his allies - including the UK - that he didn’t need them, President Trump called for them to help him open up the Strait of Hormuz, which has raised not just the question of should we, but could the UK do this? David Aaronovitch asks when it comes to big military operations what have we got? In this dangerous 21st century what do we need? Can we get it? And what about closer co-operation with other European countries? Guests: General Sir Richard Barrons, Senior Consulting fellow with the International Security Programme, Chatham House. Dr Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow, Royal United Services Institute Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The Economist Ruth Harris, Executive Director for National Security and Data Science, RAND Europe Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Caroline Bayley, Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill and James Beard Editor Richard Vadon

People in this episode

Host: David Aaronovitch

Guests: General Sir Richard Barrons, Dr Jack Watling, Shashank Joshi, Ruth Harris

Topics covered

• UK armed forces
• military operations
• international relations
• defense strategy
• European cooperation
• 21st century warfare

Keywords

• UK armed forces
• military operations
• defense
• international security
• European cooperation
• 21st century warfare
• Russia
• Ukraine
• US-Israel war
• Iran

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Chatham House, Royal United Services Institute, The Economist, RAND Europe

Places: UK, US, Iran, Russia, Ukraine

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