I've just posted this on the carrier thread.........I thought it would also be applicable here.....
When I first joined the RAF there were 50,000 odd Russian tanks scattered throughout the Warsaw Pact, all facing west, and 8,000 NATO tanks to oppose them. The threat, of a physical invasion of the West, seemed very real - as described in a series of Tom Clancy type novels.
However, I'm now older, and perhaps wiser. I would suggest that anyone should visit some of our worse inner city areas, whether it be London, Manchester, Birmingham or Glasgow. Look around some of the sink estates, at the litter, filth, graffitti and general level of vandalism and depravation. Then ask yourself what country would want to physically invade us and take over the running of that lot, and why for goodness sake....
Wars are often fought in the pursuit of resources. However, as a country Britain has few natural resources left, our oil wealth is about to be expended, mineral wealth is minimal (some unmined coal) and agriculture wise we don't produce enough to feed ourselves. We deal in insurance and burgers, with minimal remaining industrial capacity. Once again, who would want to take over that lot (in terms of a physical invasion).
All of which is not to say that various parties throughout the world might want to "hurt us" - largely on the basis of our (perceived?) historic track record towards various countries/religions/ideologies.
Are our armed forces in future going to be used mainly to ensure we are capable of imposing our beliefs/morals/political systems on various parts of the world - rather than being scaled to protect our nation from realistic threats?
And I've only had one glass of wine so far tonight......
