Q&A · 2:50:45-2:51:04

Post-Cold War planning assumed future wars would be optional

An explanation of defence underfunding traces the problem to the expectation of optional wars after the Cold War.

British Defence Policy Cold War Force Structure Readiness

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Question

Why did defence become so underfunded?

Short answer

The explanation points to post-Cold War assumptions that technological superiority would make future wars optional.

Notes

The explanation looks back to the assumptions made after the Cold War in the 1990s. Western technological superiority encouraged a belief that future wars would be fought by choice. If a government could choose whether to fight, the argument for maintaining forces against an unavoidable conflict appeared weaker.