Sir, Edward Lucas (Comment, Nov 23) is right that Britain’s arms-buying splurge is only the start. He is equally correct in saying that the changes in warfare demand three big bets: that our European allies will do more (they won’t), that the US will fill the gap (as a second priority after China), and that the US will lead a “D-10” of major democracies to constrain China (hopefully). But Lucas also links our safety to our influence in the world. The arms-buying splurge will definitely increase our defence hard power but this must not be at the cost of our soft power. The UK can exert maximum influence when our defence capabilities are integrated fully with our diplomatic skills and a focused use of the

Source: The Times November 24, 2020 00:00 UTC