Introduction
This dissertations main porpoise and focus will be to address if the British armed forces will have any role in future international conflict. It will address the beginning of the British Empire all the way to the empire that we know today. After this we will look at concerns and threats that the British might face as well as the rest of the world and how this could have an impact on the British role in any future conflict. After having discussed all of the concerns we will look at the ability through advances in technology for any involvement from the British as well as any current involvement from Britain in international conflict. Last I will discuss the findings and wrap everything up with a conclusion. All of this should in the end provide a good idea about if the British armed forces will be involved in any future international conflicts.
What is the future role of the British armed forces in international conflict?
The British have long had a system when it came to decisions involving war and international conflicts. All of these decisions have been made in the past by what is considered the “royal prerogative” (www.asil.org). The royal prerogative in lay terms is defined as the king or crowns decision in any political agendas, so simply put the decision was up to royalty only. However as recently as April of two thousand five this all changed when it was decided that any choices in these matters would now be in the hands of the Members of Parliament or the people who are elected to be in charge of the laws.
What this change meant is that there would be a vote considered among the members after much consideration on the reasons for any involvement and ultimately the decision would be made on whether the British armed forces would have any involvement in said conflict or war. In march 18th 2003 the parliament was given this very opportunity when it came time to decide if they would or would not be involved in use of force by any means necessary to disarm Iraq. The parliament did in fact decide after a lot of discussion and some disapproval on an overwhelming vote in favor of approving the use of force to disarm Iraq. There was some serious concern addressed about this decision and the future decision making process where the government’s involvement in these decisions was addressed. This was particularly true when it came to their future involvement in decisions with such an impact. The queen in the end did in fact dismiss the decision and further state that the decision in the future would not be in the hands of the parliament with few exceptions.
This debate is ongoing and therefore leaves future involvement in international conflicts, especially those where they will be directly involved a much undecided debate between the queen, her parliament and her government. One thing that can be assured is that Britain will not stand for direct attacks that threaten their country and will take any approach that is necessary to protect their national security as well as the safety of the citizens that occupy it. With the recent beheadings by the proclaimed ISIS or ISIL Britain has vowed to take some sort of action toward the Middle East and has joined forces with the United States to combat this terrorist threat. They are taking their time to decide what the right strategy is when dealing with the terrorist to accomplish their goal of defeating what they consider to be a truly evil opponent.
Who is Britain?
Britain started out as what was seemingly a disaster. It was formed by turmoil in two separate nations. After a battle over centuries for power Britain has risen to become the largest empire in the world. This all began thousands of years ago when Europe was an ice covered continent. When the weather got warmer and the ice melted away Britain became an island. Celtic individuals called Britons settles in Britain. They were warriors and ranchers who were gifted metal specialists. They fabricated towns and slope fortifications, and utilized iron weapons and apparatuses. Celts called Gaels existed in Ireland. The Romans were the first to attack Britain almost 2000 years back. They changed their nation. The Roman Empire made its check on Britain, and even today, the vestiges of Roman structures, fortifications, streets, and showers can be discovered all over Britain. England was a piece of the Roman Empire for just about 400 years! When the Roman armed forces left around 410 AD, they had built medicinal practice, a dialect of organization and law and had made extraordinary open structures and streets. The Roman armed force left Britain about AD 410. When they had gone there was no solid armed force to protect Britain, and tribes called the Angle, Saxon, and Jute (the Anglo-Saxons) attacked. They cleared out their countries in northern German banner Germany, Danish banner Denmark and northern Netherlands banner Holland and paddled over the North Sea in wooden boats. The middle Ages in Britain spread a gigantic period. The French banner Norman Conquest started in 1066, next the devastating Black Death of 1348, the Hundred Years' War with France and the War of the Roses, which at last finished in 1485. The Normans manufactured noteworthy châteaux, forced a primitive framework and completed an evaluation of the nation. England figured out how to assemble an enormous domain amid the Victorian period. It was additionally a period of huge change in the lives of British individuals. In 1837 a great many people existed in towns and took a shot at the area; by 1901, most existed in towns and worked in work places, shops and production lines.
During Queen Victoria's rule England turned into the most compelling and wealthiest nation on the planet, with the biggest realm that had ever existed, administering a quarter of the world's popularity. Towns and urban communities got transported water, gas and, before the century's over, power. The quantity of individuals living in Britain multiplied from 16 million to 37 million, bringing on a tremendous interest for sustenance, garments and lodging.
Industrial facilities and machines were constructed to take care of this demand and new towns grew up, changing the scene and the ways individuals existed and lived up to expectations. Roads were constructed to transport merchandise; implied individuals could travel effectively around the nation shockingly. Routes brought new sustenance’s to towns and urban areas. Soldiers were at war everywhere throughout the world particularly in 1850 - 1880. Numerous family units had a servant or servants – in 1891, 2 million servants were recorded in the statistics toward the start of the Victorian period crossing the Atlantic took up to eight weeks. By 1901 things started to change. After the First World War in 1920 the Republic of Ireland gained independence from Britain. This did not devastate Britain however as they continued to thrive and maintain control over a lot of aspects in Ireland while still giving them independence.
Who does Britain bring as an ally?
The British royal fleet is composed of the Royal Navy, Army and the Royal Air force. They are the fourth largest military force in the world and propose they will remain that way even after necessary cutbacks are finished. The Royal navy is very important to Britain as it allows them to have control of the seas which contain a key source of minerals which supply there economy. By controlling these seas it also allowed the British army to supply there army anywhere in the world and block others from having the same capability. This opportunity accompanied by floating gun vessels stopped others in their tracks when they considered trying to deny England access to their ports and commercial opportunities because in the long run Britain held control over the seas. This gave the British Empire the upper hand as it had control of everything in the sea from necessary travel, to shipments and even allowing someone to participate in battles and defense with allies.
Britain’s army is regarded as a very small army however what they represented in size does not define them. The army was made up of educated high ranking individuals who led an infantry of workers that held no comparison. A huge portion of the British army was actually supplied by the Scottish and Irish and was made up of workers who had been forced off of their land. The army was never given the royal title but they still fought hard and have served Britain well no matter their place of home. They all pledge their allegiance to the monarch to keep them out of any politics which has been successful for three hundred years to date.
The Royal Air force came from the royal flying corps in WW1. Formed in 1918 it has only grown amazingly fast since then. Although the Royal air force does there job well they lose morale easily when a plane goes down leaving them to have no comparison with their big brother the Royal Navy who has long maintained control successfully over the seas.
The Royal military may be considered small by the rest of Europe but its control over the seas over the years makes having this military on your side an invaluable asset. This gives you complete unsolicited control over the entire trade, travel and minerals currently protected by the British armed forces. Having them as an ally can provide a beneficial resource in oil that otherwise may not be available elsewhere because of conflicts. The army is small in comparison but has access to amazing firepower, the air force is small as well but there capabilities are nothing to sneeze at. They have aircraft called tornadoes that are capable of battle in all-weather situations and they are equipped with state of the art weaponry. So when considering an ally Britain is one that would be a very great consideration for more than one exceptional reason.
Why is Britain changing and adapting to what future conflict demands?
Over time conflicts change, resources change and what is required and able to be provided by ones military changes. When faced with these changes as well as changes in threats each country has to address this head on if they are to continue to prosper in the ever-growing and developing world. Britain has been going through some serious restructuring when it comes to their own armed forces which have left some concerned. Some of the changes have included decision making as well as serious military cuts. They have been cutting back there forces to try to budget better. It seems that the budget for the military has been declining steadily for the last fourteen years. The cut backs have been justified by strong arguments that Britain still has the fourth largest military in the world, They will be replacing active duty military that they have cut back with reservists, “It is preferable to have fewer, but better equipped, military personnel than a greater number of poorly equipped servicemen and women” (www.bbcnews.com), and last but not least it is just too expensive to have a huge well equipped army. These concerns regardless of being valid points about why the military should be downsized in Britain do not leave others in complete satisfaction with the decision to make so many changes.
Others have become equally concerned with the fact that the reservists will not receive the necessary preparatory training before they are possibly sent to a position where there would be boots on the ground. Another equally concerning point that arises is if the military will be able to maintain the same effectiveness with fewer soldiers to deploy. To these major concerns no definitive answer has been given that would ease the minds of the people who worry that the cutbacks to the military could have a devastating effect on the British armed forces defenses. This leaves the critics of these changes demanding some recognition that the fact is this will drastically change the armed forces capabilities to perform adequately when they are faced with situations similar to the past considering they will not have the manpower for rapid deployments and the men and woman that they do have at their disposal will not have the training that is necessary to effectively make the same impact that a larger defense would have been able to do.
As we round the next century Britain faces more than just war with other places, but they also face a sure devastation should there economy collapse and that is why they find it necessary to start doing cutbacks on one of their biggest financial woes, their own military. They are confident these cutbacks though concerning to some will not affect their ability to protect their country. A stable economy will allow them to face other challenges including natural disasters and terrorism more efficiently even with a smaller army at least that is what they are hoping these changes will allow. The only way this plan will be as effective as it is planned is if they really can recruit the necessary amount of active reservist to fill the gap in the army from the cutbacks that will be made to the original forces. Not only will the recruitment have to be a huge success but the training of this reservist will have to prove to be done to a level of expertise that will allow the reservist to be prepared for the same capabilities of fighting that the trained army had.
Britain has been directly responsible for controlling and developing drones or (UAVS) unmanned Ariel vehicles. There are many different drones that have been developed but they generally fall into two categories. There are Drones that only do surveillance and drones capable of being armed with both missiles and bombs (dronwars.net). The benefits to these new weapons are that they can fly longer than conventional aircraft; they are less expensive and pose no danger to the crew that is manning them remotely. While the United States has only a handful of drones in comparison the UK have several types of drones and more that are currently being developed. While military drones are a great source of surveillance there is still much in question about their actual use in targeted killings. The implication is that this specific type of killing is a violation of international laws as it takes the person behind the trigger away from the reality of the loss of life involved.
The UK has begun new development on counter weapons materials and technologies that will help defend them from the use of chemical, biological and weapons of mass destruction. They have entered into a global partnership whose purpose is to fund any projects that are able to prevent the acquirement of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. This funding is then used around the world for development of counter weapon technologies. Through this global partnership the UK supports destruction of chemicals that can be used in weapons as well as biological weapons. They hold a convention called biological and toxin weapons convention that was implemented solely to prevent any place from being able to gather the chemicals and biological components necessary for such a weapon. With the UK being a nuclear developer themselves they have declared they will work to stop other forces from acquiring nuclear materials by improving security of materials, reducing containment sites and preventing terrorist access to the materials. Along with these measures of protection the UK is working on a treaty that would ban any nuclear testing by any weapons to ensure global safety. This treaty is not yet implemented but they are working to make sure it is completed.
What conflicts has Britain faced in the past?
One major conflict Britain has faced in the past is there dilemmas with Ireland. Before 1921 although Ireland has always been regarded as a single national unit they were in fact governed as a colony of Britain. The Irish feel that Britain has always tried to seek power and authority over Ireland. One winner of the Nobel peace prize, Sean MacBride S. C., even went so far as to make this bold statement “The historical and contemporary existence of the Irish nation has never been in dispute. For centuries, Britain has sought to conquer, dominate and rule Ireland. For centuries, the Irish people have sought to free Ireland from British rule. Britain, a large, powerful and ruthless colonial power, was able to defeat the numerous and sustained efforts of the Irish people to liberate themselves. In the course of the 19th century, as a result of British oppression and famine, the population of Ireland was halved.” (www.sinnfein.org). during one particular issue the British developed a partition with no consent of the Irish whatsoever halving there nation into northern and the Republic of Ireland. There only solution was not asked for but threatened with a cold war if the Irish did not concede and accept the partition. This partition was said to be only put into place to protect the interest of the English however it did much more by allowing practical rule over Ireland by Britain. This not only was a problem of conflict between the two but also initiated a civil war between the now two separate halves of Ireland in the 19th century. This partition had other equally devastating results including torture and basically stripping the Irish of any rights and freedoms as well as allowing British soldiers to rule them with complete amnesty.
Among this last conflict Britain has faced a timeline of conflicts with other nations including forcing thirteen American colonies to pay taxes as well as other known injustices which eventually led up to those colonies declaring their independence from Britain in 1776 on what we now know as the fourth of July. Another famously known war was the war of 1812 between America and Britain as well as when they finally joined forces in World War 1 and 11 against others who were attempting world domination. These are a few of the past conflicts that Brittan has had involvement in with other nations and possibly some of them could leave the British feeling like cutting back there army could leave them exposed to future threats and even possible retaliation from some.
Terrorism and Britain
Right now Britain faces the hard truth that the terror threat is high. Right now the level of terrorist activity is elevated to sever meaning that the threat of an attack from a terrorist organization is highly likely. Right now the most significant threat to Britain comes from overseas from al Qaeda and ISIS. Isis is the direct manifestation of al Qaeda which has existed from what we are aware since 1989. They are an international terrorist group that was funded by Usama Bin Laden and had its headquarters in Afghanistan. This group’s leader Bin Laden did not like the united states at all for many reasons. One being that the United States is not governed by their interpretation of Islam, and that the U.S. provided support to other places that were considered Infidels for not being governed by the Al Qaeda ideals. Because of these and other extreme reasons this group attacked and violently mutilated any United State citizens. This included beheadings which were recorded and released through live feed and the attacks on the United States world trade center’s killing many on the fateful September eleventh. This sparked a war against Al Qaeda and the ultimate hunting down and killing all those involved including the leader Osama Bin Laden. This extreme terrorist group although weakened was not however defeated and is superseded by what we now know as ISIS or ISIL. This new group or branch off of the group has been a serious concern for the entire world including Britain. Because of this threat Britain is now on high alert for terrorist activity after receiving direct threats and attempts from ISIS. The measures that are taken for counterterrorism at this time are based on four areas of work which include; pursue, prevent, protect and prepare. Pursue is used to stop terrorist attacks. Prevent is used to halt terrorist recruitment. Protect is to strengthen protection from an attack. Prepare is to mitigate any impact of an attack by terrorists. In Britain they are working to develop new strategies through use of technology, strengthening export security and combined efforts with Ireland to strengthen security further. Unfortunately terrorist attacks no matter the preparation are still a huge threat. At this time the Uk has thwarted more than one person attempting to carry out a terror plot on their soil and there are surely more to come.
One suspected Anjem Choudary associate is alleged to try to head for Syria posing as an illegal immigrant, five men were arrested on suspicion of terror offenses in London, Ireland is preparing for attacks on Christmas and these are all in recent news. What is to be? Nobody knows as these attacks are more spontaneous than planned out making it difficult to detect and thwart such attempts. The five men arrested in London were stopped by officers as they attempted to leave the UK. Three were arrested in the vehicle and the other two in north London all tied together in suspicion of trying to prepare and carry out a terrorism plot there. With British having confirmed suspicious activity it is important they remain vigilant and on high alert for more terrorist activity. This activity seems to be provoking Britain into future roles in international conflict as it is a direct threat to their very safety if they do not get involved in stopping this immediate threat to their very own security.
Should Britain Join the forces against Isis
Although Britain is facing some economic strain it is imperative that they do consider joining the war against the ISIS forces in the Middle East. ISIS has seized huge patches of area in its mission to make a caliphate or an Islamic state that extends from western Syria to eastern Iraq. Turkey joined the coalition before the end of last week as the activists kept on battling Kurdish and Iraqi constrains on the ground. In September, the United States guaranteed wide collaboration in the exertion against the fear bunch. In this way, Great Britain, France, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and different countries are partaking. This effort combined places less stress on one individual economy while still offering a solution to a threat that the entire world is not safe from. Some of the other places getting involved include Jordan, Egypt and Qatar. Jordan: The kingdom took part in airstrikes in Syria. In mid-September, previous Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said on CNN that he questioned Jordan will submit ground troops in the battle against ISIS. Secretary of State John Kerry has said Egypt has a basic part to play in countering ISIS philosophy. There was an "extremely itemized discussion with the Egyptians about military-to-military participation" in Iraq, State Department authorities said in September. There have all the earmarks of being no open insights about the part Egypt has played, be that as it may. Yet flagging a major social push against ISIS, Egypt's excellent mufti censured the fear gathering a month ago, saying that its activities are not in accordance with Islam, Al-Arabiya reported. Qatar: The little however exceptionally rich Gulf country that has one of the biggest American bases in the Middle East has flown various philanthropic flights, State Department authorities said. What's more in late September, in his first-ever question as the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Tamim container Hamad Al-Thani promised to backing the coalition. Qatar was previously accused and denies funding terrorism but regardless they have become part of the coalition to combat this terrorist threat. Having this combined effort and now also Britain’s agreement to join gives the world a real chance at winning the war that is being waged against us all.
Some repercussion
Many people will live in fear of repercussions from the Islamic forces. Those in Britain are clearly expressing concerns. A top counter terrorism expert went as far as to make the statement that “Britain will feel the repercussions of Syria and the rise of Islamic extremism within its own borders for "many years" to come” (telegraph.co.uk). She was stating what was to represent an actual terrorist threat to the UK. This warning was the result of recently released footage showing young British in a Syria recruitment video for ISIS where ISIS is convincing UK Muslims to join their forces. The UK is doing their best to prepare for this by identifying those involved and carrying out arrest before becoming the target of terrorism on their own ground. Right now police are very worried and the only thing they can do is warn young people that if they travel there they are putting their selves in immediate danger if not involved of becoming a victim of ISIS and if they are found to be suspect they will be subject to arrest and prosecution. Facing the news that they are at threat it could even be impossible to track anyone who has already traveled and returned before they were aware of the recruitment. The former head of counter terrorism is fearful that his estimate of at least 300 people who already came back would be an incapable task for the counterterrorism forces to track now. With the terror threat at such a high level because of the newly recruited British civilians by ISIS, Britain is being force to take extreme measures for safety. This includes absolutely no tolerance for any brits who take a flight to Syria. If they choose to they will be stripped of their passport. The other thing they are doing is having even more police ready to patrol the roads and airports to search for and counter any attempted acts of terrorism. Full details of what is going to be done to stop terrorism is not yet been disclosed to the public but officials want everyone to know they are aware of what they need to do, where they are weak, and how to fix it and are making the necessary changes (mirror.co.uk).
Would it be better to not get involved?
No matter the timeline eventually there would have to be action taken as the terrorism groups specifically target the rest of the world who they feel are posing on their ideals. To not get involved would be a mistake as it would only allow the ISIS forces to gain the ability to build a strong enough force to be an even more imminent threat to the rest of the world including Britain. The UNs general assembly is becoming concerned with human rights violations in Syria and is calling for the president to hand over his power as deputy. This new development sparked debate about whether or not Britain should be putting their nose in this at all. Numerous members felt that mediating to subdue the brutality would unmistakably be the proper thing to do. Yet others upholding British association additionally communicated questions that it would have any genuine or positive effect. All the same, their emotions were clear they felt that there must be something that Britain can do. The other people who were more in support of the UK thought that there should be no involvement and stated simply “it’s not our fight” (yougov.co.uk). Other arguments included that we don’t have money to take care of our own problems so we can’t afford to fix there’s and if we get involved it will give people a reason to hate us even more. Even though these are valid arguments the real concern is when it does cross the borders and become our problem, which it will, would we be able to combat a powerful source that has been preparing to end us. It in fact is our fight and that is what many supporters of involvement are arguing, that we do something before it is too late. The gassing of regular folks by a military is a wrongdoing and the individuals who request it and complete it are crooks who ought to be brought to trial. The worldwide group has such a court - the International Criminal Court - an organization which now has the world's more fierce political and military pioneers searching over their shoulder for alarm they may be removed to the Hague to respond in due order regarding their criminal acts. In the event that Bashar al-Assad is found to have utilized harmful gas on his own people, as probably appears to have been the situation, then he must be put on trial for law violations against humankind. This, be that as it may, is a world far from the thought that the worldwide group ought to militarily intercede in the uncontrolled brutality of the Syrian common war. So what do we do not hold up our laws set in place to protect basic human rights because it is not us? Well that doesn’t really work because human rights mean exactly that it does not matter if it is on the soil where we are it matters that we have a worldwide law and people to step up and help defend those who cannot defend their selves. If we did not intervene it would make us look like we were in fear which is what the terrorist group’s main intention is every time there is an attack. To attempt to frighten the rest of the world and make them bow down to the extremism.
Some future Conflicts Britain could face
One surprising conflict that is being brought up by a senior military figure is that when the climate changes it will have a major impact on the British including forcing them to come face to face with the possibility of war. The reason this is such a pressing issue is that people rely on resources like oil, natural gas and fossil fuels and this would pose a serious threat to geopolitical security for Britain. The senior military figure addressed in this topic Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti stated, “Climate change will require more deployment of British military in conflict prevention, conflict resolution or responding to increased humanitarian requirements due to extreme weather impacts” (www.rt.com). This future conflict would require manpower to maintain and control on a massive scale depending on the impacted areas.
Global Warming and a smaller army are only a couple of things among many hot topics that have Britain’s military planners getting together to discuss their future including disputes over land and territory with the possibility of wars. As if these conflicts are not enough on the plate of one nation who is facing economic woes which have impacted an important resource downsizing there only means of defense new threats from the Middle East newest terrorist organization ISIS. Isis first emerged in the Middle East after American troops pulled out of Iraq and left the newly trained troops to support and defend their own territory. We saw them first when they viciously attacked their own people with chemical weapons causing massive and horrifying destruction to many. They are a self-proclaimed terrorist organization that we first knew and fought as al Qaeda but we failed to destroy them completely. These terrorists use cruel torture and other methods to gain control and influence over the nation of Islam. Now ISIS is becoming a threat outside of their territory and even approaches Britain as well as the rest of the world with these sinister threats as well as attacks. Britain in particular was first presented with their need to be involved with this conflict when ISIS revealed a video of a beheading involving a man named James Foley who spoke with a British accent which had a direct impact on Brittan’s foreign policies (www.newstatesman.com). Another serious risk for British National security is the discovery of the presence of Britain’s own citizens involved with ISIS.
Another conflict that they can and are facing is the imminent threat from the Middle East on their own people. British are being recruited by ISIS and sent back to carry out terrorist plots leaving Britain under immediate threat from the danger of this, especially since they are such a powerful regime and in control of many things that directly deal with nuclear materials that could be compromised and used for a weapon.
These conflicts arise and change daily and will definitely test the British ability to maintain control when faced with such problems while also dealing with their own troubles and a smaller military to back them up. In the midst of all of this chaos the British are looking at all possibilities and future conflicts and including those possibilities in there strategies for strengthening their economy as well as their military and are confident that the reservist and bigger budget for better equipment will prove to be the best option even when faced with certain threats of future conflicts with other nations.
What role will the British play in all of this?
The role the British armed forces will play in the future is may still look undecided. They face many different issues all the way to what there economy can support, what there army is capable of and what as a nation they cannot ignore no matter the cost. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed on September fifteenth of this year that in fact Britain would be involved in combatting the terrorist group known as Isis and further more they would be playing a ‘leading role’ (www.dailymail.co.uk). The decisions about how this crisis will be handled and what will be done in particular by Britain will be a long process as they will look at all of the options available to them in combatting this terrorism. Airstrikes are a definite response by the United States and although Britain is still undecided in their approach to this situation it is clear that after attacks on their own British citizens there involvement in stopping the terrorist organization is going to be very supportive. They went as far as to make it clear that they will not stand for these horrific attacks even calling the people who beheaded there British citizen the “embodiment of evil” (www.dailymail.co.uk), and pledging to seek justice for him and others like him. The major issue at hand at this time is weather the United States and Britain will join together not only in airstrikes but in actual deployment of troops to the area to fight this battle or what is known as putting boots on the ground. Some say that it is a necessary option to combat this serious threat and some look at it as unnecessary at the current time. This opposition has been said to have been the reason the terrorist group continues to thrive in Tory MP Bob Stewarts opinion as he feel that until there are ‘boots on the ground’ the war will continue and nobody will win because the only way to ensure the loss of the groups sustainability is to have forces in person who are able to hunt them down and destroy them. Because of Mr. Cameron’s statement there is a stated possibility that the future will see troops from Britain physically in Iraq finding the terrorist group and holding them responsible for their crimes with the main goal to destroy their organization once and for all.
Together to stop the terrorist group ISIS the president of the united states as well as David Cameron who feels ISIS poses a direct and deadly threat to Britain right now have teamed up uniting the United states and Britain in a what they call a “core coalition” of ten nations to confront the terrorist organization. They feel so far that the airstrikes have been effective in coalition with the Kurdish forces that are already fighting there on the ground. The problem that they are facing now is that the Kurdish forces are dealing with very serious morale issues and the militants attacking have become aware of this and taken advantage of the weakness leaving the ground troops exposed for their weakness right now. However with supplies being given to the Kurdish soldiers there confidence in the battle has been temporarily restored and they are requesting further assistance by the means of more weapons for the battle which is what the UK is currently considering. Some of the options for battling ISIS proposed by the British now are exposing a threat that would unite the conflicted countries, attacking the terrorist’s sources of finance, halting international recruitment, and changing our immediate response to their terrorist acts. Right now it seems Britain is considering all available options in the war on terror. David Cameron has went out of his way to help Britain face the fact that they are in serious risk by ignoring any further moves by ISIS and need to be involved despite their economy struggles. He states that he agrees they need to build their economy but doing that involves taking action and using all of the available resources “to help bring out a more stable world” (www.telegraph.co.uk). He urges and applauds the humanitarian response while also addressing other necessary responses for the future role of Britain in this conflict while addressing the British people about what Britain needs to do specifically in this upcoming fight including taking a tough political stance when responding to the crisis at hand.
Facing such a serious situation the security services in Britain have to consider all of the data and options for counterterrorism tactics. Security administrations gauge that there are 500 or somewhere in the vicinity U.K. residents battling with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. On the off chance that you incorporate the Brits battling with different radicals amasses, the quantity of British "remote contenders" stretches extensively. These individuals may have put in months or years being saturated with fanatic society and getting military preparing, yet they are still British natives. So if these now extremist return to Britain then that would put Britain in the direct line for becoming a victim of terrorist attacks. There is no other solution to this problem than to stop there return to home especially now that the British have actively joined the war on terror.
Where Britain gets valuable resources
Britain as of now remains the largest oil producer in Europe meaning they have a lot to protect should they enter into a war. However companies are starting to see a fall in production of this valuable resource and in the past few years drilling operations have begun to scale back. Britain’s conflict with Scotland has not been helping much since most of their resources and oil operations are based there. The current issue is that Scotland continues to seek there complete independence from England however this comes at a cost. They will face the possibility of having to deal with higher taxes if they choose to separate. The problem for Britain is facing loss of the access to specific oil sites located in Scotland which much of their economy is striving from. Scotland however does rely much on the army that England provides for protection of its oil resources as well as its waters and the High North Atlantic part of the waters which they are in competition with Russia for because of its high content in rich minerals. Skeptics argue it would be easy enough for Scotland to form their own defense but for now they are uneasy about the separation from England which has already established a line of defense in these situations. When it comes to being involved in future international conflicts Britain could possibly need the future involvement to further their resources and strengthen their own economy. This makes the possibility of future international conflict involvement a very possible thing to look for.
Political Factors
Political factors have a great influence on Britain right now. One that was mentioned is the changes in climate. Britain has been introducing a climate change strategy that will attempt to eliminate or reduce the CO2 emissions by 2020. They are doing this by trying to implement more public travel and change the way people see it. Britain has a lot at stake when it comes to this as they are aware of the implications in their future involvement with international conflicts should the world be faced with devastation from global warming. This would have a direct impact on their involvement in future wars. They have signed an international treaty to scathe off this unwanted disaster called the “Kyoto Protocol” (www.buisnesscasestudies.co.uk). All of the countries who sign this agreement are joining an effort to reduce the emission of harmful gasses that are thought by scientist to be the cause of global warming. Geopolitics is a leading concern as Britain faces taking part in a global crisis involving the impact of an imminent climate change. Investing in an alternative to using oil is a political agenda that must be addressed as the wars that can come from the fight for fossil fuels investments can collapse the best governments and this is an immediate concern for Britain.
The actual outcome and impact of Britain’s and U.S. involvement in Iraq has serious implications on politics. There are a number of issues to be addressed including, controversial media reports, failed democratic transition and religious violence. Religious violence has in fact been a driving factor in the terrorist attacks from the self-proclaimed ISIS. If the situation is not carefully manipulated there could be devastating consequences for otherwise good intentions. In 2006 there were 100 people a day dying from suicide bombings, (www.globalissues.org) and this was never the intention. The intention is only to provide help as well as a means to democratic government and some religious rights and freedoms, however it is equally important to show the people that they have a bigger enemy than one another and have them work together with the coalition to develop a strategy that puts the people in a place of peace and shared power without causing further civil unrest. It is also to protect the security of geopolitical factors that could have a huge impact on the whole world’s resources. This is especially important as most of those geopolitical issues are in the country that houses the terrorist group ISIS. They are a major source of oils that are essential and any dealings must be done with great care.
Economic Factors
Some of the economic factors that Britain is facing at this time include Business, Taxation, social and technological. Britain’s economic factors have had a direct impact on their ability to sustain a large army and now they are resorting to cutbacks in there military to scathe the enormous economical blow. By responding to their customers’ needs and demands they can tackle the business side of economics because money is important in an economy if it is to continue to grow and thrive. Another economical factor that they face is taxation which affects business. The goal to get customers to switch to public transportation and reduce greenhouse gases can be directly affected by taxes. By taxing fuel it encourages the majority of people to use more forms of public transportation thus reducing the number of people who are using their own (www.businesscasestudies.co.uk). Technology is an equally important economical factor as when it is developed further it will provide Britain with more effective ways to use a smaller more economical friendly military which is what they are faced with right now. The development of technology also helps directly affect the use of C02 in Britain as it can be used to make public transportation more comfortable and easily accessed by the people who are normally traveling by car.
How has warfare changed since WW11?
World War 1 was one of the wars that had a direct impact on democracy in Britain. Britain became part of one of the biggest wars of modern times during this war in the name of 19th century liberal values which were “the rights of small nations and the rule of law”(www.bbc.co.uk). The war began in August of 1814 and was as far as historians consider caused by many contributing factors. This war was single handedly responsible for the death of millions as it reached proportions now considered completely out of control. Since this war significant changes have taken place in warfare as opposed to what we know today. There have also been amazing leaps and strides in social and economic factors in Britain and all of Europe since what was known as the cold war. In the UK the armed forces have shrunk by an amazing eighty nine percent while the population has continued to rise even given the fact that the British army lost half of their forces during this war which was the most they have lost during one single war. The war was fought between rival alliances of European powers that included Germany and Austria-Hungary alliance, French and Russian alliance, at last Italy joined alliance with Germany Austria-Hungary followed by Britain joining Russia and France with less commitment than the others. Nonetheless they lost many soldiers in the battle.
World War 1 was a war that used weapons like the machine gun and artillery piece which made it possible to attack large groups of people from trenches. Each of these guns was heavy weighing about 30 to 60 kg before you even weigh in there mountings and carriages making them difficult to carry for the soldiers. They were mounted on a tripod and took four to six men to operate a piece and had a severe issue with overheating so required cool down time between each use.
The airplanes used at the beginning of the war were very basic and over went many changes in there uses with developments allowing them to be used as fighters and bombers. The British even regarded airplanes at first as useless when it came to war and because of this they were only used to take photos from the air in the beginning. Today Aircraft is used for many sophisticated operations in war and they have even developed virtually undetectable stealth planes that have the advantage in wars. tanks have also undergone significant changes since the war where they have advanced in weaponry and maneuvering ability by leaps and bounds making it capable in WWII to accomplish a much faster and efficient means of attack than was available during the first war dubbing the term “lightning war”(uk.answers.yahoo.com). Tanks began as another basic idea implemented into the war and developed later into a weapon of destruction. The idea came from a tractor and was originally used only to maneuver through rough terrain during the war. Since the war tanks have become an ultimate weapon that now are armored and allow virtual in destruction by enemy bullets as they are capable of deflecting most attacks as well as delivering a heavy blow to the enemy through highly developed weaponry that is attached. Technology advances have been the hugest difference over time starting off with radar, radios and even sonar weapons testing which allowed troops more success in combat than ever before. Radios were developed and used before the war however during the war they were forced to shut down so the government could have soul use and if one was caught using one it was considered treason. Since this technological advances have allowed us the ability to use secure undetected stations that don’t interfere with the regular musical radio stations we all love. Nuclear weapons have lost their practical uses in war over time and although once considered a viable option is now the one thing most countries will band together to ensure never gets deployed. In place of these weapons are new chemical and biological weapons that are beginning to pose a threat for the future in place of weapons of mass destruction of property. These weapons have the capability of maiming and even extinguishing entire masses without harmful devastation to the surroundings. Money has changed as well over time as we develop different things to fight with the costs to attain those things skyrocket. This pertains to things from newly developed airplanes all the way to state of the art body armor to protect the soldiers. In world war one it was a war of men however advances in equality welcome a new place for women in current wars. This is the same for Britain allowing females in the military as it is for terrorists who have begun to recruit female suicide bombers. Last but not least and included in technology are a new weapon called drones. These are unmanned aircraft that even have the capability of carrying weapons and can fly by remote to a location for spying or attack. This advancement has made it possible to fight in a war with fewer casualties from downed planes by the enemy.
Between advances in strategy, weaponry, technology and even medical warfare have become more a game of strategy than a brutal bloodbath with mass casualties like it used to be. It has become increasingly expensive and more motivated by power and control of resources than it was in World War 1 which was a time of complication. The war then was motivated by many different factors for some just being an ally made them bound to take part in the war. Therefore in short two countries Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and this drew everyone else in because they were tied to the war in defense of the country they were an ally too. This long drawn out alliance treaty sparked the war that in the end killed more soldiers than any other war today. War today is motivated mostly by the control of certain key economic resources and less over land and who is in control of it. The main goal is to control the money and the money is controlled by valuable resources like oil which is used by everyone everywhere and has a high cost in a time of war. With developments in weapons and technology the war has made drastic changes not only in warfare but in everyday life. These changes however unnoticed stemmed a slew of new modern warfare materials including advancements like the stealth bomber and drones.
Stronger Alliances smaller armed forces
After World War one the United States found that they were the world’s global superpower. However when questioned about what it takes to be this United States leaders have never drawn a solid conclusion as they have struggled with the question over the last twenty years. The analysis for this was conducted during the wars in the last twenty years as the United States realized that it takes meeting requirements provided by large armed forces. So when we have economic crisis to face that limits the abilities to build a large army we are faced with joining forces with other countries who have the same values, interests and long-term goals to achieve a global superpower that will enable the completion of tasks with the least amount of casualties. One on one the military’s today are too small to face a threat alone but when partnered with an ally they can rely on this creates a force to be reckoned with. In today’s wars the focus is on partnerships that ensure the security of not only a region but the entire world. This joinder in forces with other countries around the world helps strengthen security and force when facing a vigilant opponent that might have the capability of creating a devastating blow to one source standing alone in the fight. By joining forces we not only share the burden that is handed to us but we also share the power and capability to overcome any obstacle that may obstruct the path to safety security and development in the future. Having a global effort involved extends the capabilities of seeking weapons of mass destruction as well as diverting any attacks against one of the allies as we will have the opportunity for eyes and ears everywhere. This allows us to protect not only our citizens but to also protect “the fundamental rights of every human being” (www.defense.org).
Findings
As an ally Britain brings a lot to the table even though appearances would lead some to think otherwise. They in fact do have a relatively small army however it is made up of people who are trained very well and have access to some very advanced technology including drones. There navy has a very unique vantage point with complete control over the surrounding see that is rich in minerals which are highly sought after and they have maintained this control over the area very well. To get to and from important points you must pass there navy and to do this successfully you have to have their agreement putting them in charge of all trade and other operations in the area. Britain has spent time developing strategies, technology and defenses to protect and safeguard their empire and nuclear warheads. They protect these with the very best security and help to ensure that terrorist do not gain access to these materials or materials anywhere else that they can control. This keeps the threat of a nuclear apocalypse farther from happening which can put everyone at ease.
The added benefit is that having the British as an ally when they have all of this nuclear material and technology at their fingertips is better than having them as an enemy. There significant role in this particular area makes them a huge target for involvement in future conflict whether they are willing to engage in a conflict or forced as this is a highly sought after product. Terrorist will do whatever it takes to inflict the most harm possible including suicide bombings so there would be nothing to save anyone if they had access to these materials. Britain faces some very concerning conflicts in the future as Global warming has scientist reeling on how to avoid it and has Britain thinking of how this kind of change could have a devastating impact drawing them into direct involvement in future situations of war as land and resources would be depleted with this kind of climactic change.
Another unavoidable conflict is the future war on terror which includes ISIS and there recent beheadings of Britain’s citizens in an attempt to send a message of fear to the world. Because of the recent attacks Britain has become involved in the war on this terror and joined forces with the United States and others to combat this threat. There exact position is still being decided but it looks like boots on the ground is a very realistic expectation in the near future. In light of the threats Britain has been improving there capabilities to combat this terror by doing extensive research, developing technology and becoming part of a world coalition to combat terrorism on a global scale.
World war two had a significant impact on many of these technological advances and a lot of the ideas came right out of Britain. Although not originally thought of as a weapon airplane were developed by the wright brothers and used by the British for Ariel photography of the battle field then later turned into machines capable of joining the battle. Tanks were also an inspiration by the British during this war when a tractor was first modeled for easy maneuvering in the battlefield. Through all of this the British were criticized for the small size of their army and furthermore when they did cutbacks yet they continue to be a powerful force with a huge control over seas that are an amazing asset when it is considered in future conflicts internationally.
