General Sir David Richards, the armed forces' most senior officer, says the UK should not compete for influence in China
The armed forces' most senior officer has called for the UK to consider new military alliances with countries in Africa and the Arab peninsula rather than trying to compete for influence over the emerging powers of China and India.
General Sir David Richards, chief of the defence staff, said in a world that looked "especially unpredictable and unstable" it was more important now than before to reach out beyond the obvious alliances to ensure the UK's security.
Richards said the UK and France were already working closely together and that other alliances should emerge. "As the world evolves, so new groupings will emerge. The most obvious is our alliance with the French. It is much more than the Entente Cordiale of a century ago. It is a vehicle for joint action.
"The UK will require other carefully chosen alliances over the coming decade through which to influence the strategic landscape and help determine the outcome of fast-moving crises.
"Already our collaboration with countries in the Gulf and Africa has delivered results in the region. Perhaps we should be focusing our defence relationships on these regions rather than competing for influence, with many others, in China or India."
Richards said that with the US saying explicitly for the first time that its main military focus was now in south-east Asia, it was time for the UK to "think through what this means to us".
In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute thinktank on Wednesday, Richards said Nato would remain "the most powerful military pact the world has ever known", but he warned that this would not be enough in the future.
And he hinted that further collaboration with Somalia could be a possibility.
"Alliances not only have the benefit of extending our reach and providing us with allies in times of need, they can also assist with the government's prevention strategy.
"Treating the causes of instability and terrorism at source is better and cheaper than dealing with the consequences, as Somalia's piracy demonstrates."
The UK worked closely with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan during the Libya campaign ? co-operation the Ministry of Defence is likely to want to continue.
Richards defended Nato's military effort in Afghanistan, saying that perceptions of what was happening in the country were lagging behind reality by "some 18 months".
He said Afghan forces were now leading half of all conventional and special forces operations, and that insurgent attacks were down 28% on last year.
"Still the Taliban can play one card. They operate in the world of perceptions and convince many in the UK and elsewhere to see the operation as it was, not as it is. Perception is lagging reality by some 18 months."
He added: "It is interesting to note how quickly many outside government forget that the ungoverned, unstable space that was Afghanistan became everyone's problem on 9/11 and the UK's own home-grown 7/7 bombers were trained in Pakistan."
Richards also used the speech, which is regarded as the UK military's "state of the union" address, to show support for the army.
While air and seapower had been vital in supporting Libyan civilians, it would be "foolhardy indeed and against all the lessons of history to imagine that we will never deploy combat troops again."
He added: "When our vital national interests are threatened or the case for a humanitarian intervention becomes overwhelming, we cannot rely on others to fight our battles."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/14/uk-military-alliances-africa-defence
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