Guest Contributor

The world has entered a new era of great power competition.

Through almost four hundred years of service, the British Armed Services have proven their outstanding merit time and time again. Whether intervening against genocide in the Balkans, breaking the seemingly invincible powers of Napoleon or Hitler, or defending British sovereignty in the Falklands.

Russia is challenging NATO at sea as well as ashore. The rather muted response of the Alliance focuses on more information and new command structures to provide a competitive edge. These measures alone will not be a sufficient deterrent.

For the last year newspapers, magazines and websites – including this one - have been filled with impressive photographs of the Royal Navy's two new carriers - HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales – commonly referred to as the Queen Elizabeth Class. 

Last week, the UK announced it was establishing diplomatic representation in nine countries: Lesotho, Swaziland, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. From an Oceanian perspective, this might be a game changer.

Gavin Williamson was a far from popular appointment when he was promoted to defence secretary last year. Among the more charitable descriptions, he was branded a "self-serving c***". But take a closer look at what he's been doing at his department and a slightly different picture emerges. The truth is, Williamson has a good story to tell.

Since the Brexit vote in 2016 Theresa May’s Conservative Government have sought to push forward the ‘Global Britain’ policy campaign. However, as the Foreign Affairs Select Committee recently highlighted, there has thus far been little change in policy output to reflect this pan-government policy.

In his famous 2002 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush coined the phrase "Axis of Evil" to describe any and all states that sponsor terrorism and to highlight to the people the "enemies of America" in an attempt to rile up support for his War on Terror and expansion of the US Military's involvement in International Affairs worldwide.

It seems every day brings news of another high-profile cyberattack or intrusion affecting our personal data, national security or the very integrity and availability of the institutions and infrastructure on which we depend.

The United Kingdom is a serious player on the world stage. We need to hit the ground running.