The British Defence Secretary has warned that the UK should prepare for war with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea within the next five years.
He warned that the UK has “come full circle, moving from a post-war to pre-war world” and that old and new enemies have now redrawn the battle lines against NATO and the West.
Shapps has said that it is “critical” that NATO members increase their defence budgets to at 2% of GDP and the UK will “strive” to hit the 2.5% goal “as soon as possible.”
The foundation of the rules of international order are currently being “shaken to the core,” the Middle East and Ukraine are the front contenders as the “era of the peace dividend” is now over.
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Shapps said, “We find ourselves at the dawn of this new era – the Berlin Wall a distant memory – and we’ve come full circle, moving from a post-war to pre-war world.”
He said that North Korea have been supplying Vladimir Putin with ammunition and missiles, Russian tanks are in Ukraine and China is observing the West and their allies over the up coming Kyiv elections, then there is the potential for another war between Beiling and Taiwan.
Shapps painted a dark picture, he warned, “in five years’ time we could be looking at multiple theatres including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea… Ask yourself, looking at today’s conflicts across the world, is it more likely that that number grows or reduces? I suspect we all know the answer.
“It’s likely to grow, so 2024 must mark an inflection point.”
Shapps continued, “We made the critical decision to set out our aspiration to reach 2.5% of GDP on defence, and as we stabilise and grow this economy, we’ll continue to strive to reach that as soon as possible.
“But now is the time for all allied and democratic nations across the world to do the same thing and ensure their defence spending is growing too.”
