UK military cuts mean 'no US partnership', warns Robert Gates

One of the standout headlines on the BBC website today was a piece airing the views of Robert Gates, a former secretary of defence for the United States. Mr Gates says that because he "laments" American defence cuts, he also has concern for the cuts currently being directed towards the British armed forces. It may be a somewhat controversial thing to say in a nation that is so obsessed with having an overt military presence, but I find it difficult to be concerned about such a trifling issue.

Why is it a trifling issue? Well, lets look at the facts and figures. Currently the United Kingdom has the fourth largest military budget in the world, despite having the eighth largest economy. Britain spends more on the military than almost every nation on earth, and most amusingly, far more than all of the nations named as part of "the axis of evil" by George W Bush. Indeed, the combined military spending of the most belligerent states in the world today is still less than what the British spend on the armed forces, and I, along with many others, believe this sum is more than ample. 

Do the Dutch worry about their military spending? Do the happier, slimmer, fitter, more relaxed people of Austria, Switzerland, Denmark or New Zealand sit around worrying themselves silly about the fact that they can't muster a terrifying war host to barnstorm across the globe bringing flaming death to their perceived foes? 

Of course they don't. And according to the Mercer Quality of Living Survey from 2012, not one of the best cities to reside in on planet earth sits inside the borders of the militarily powerful nations of the earth.

And on a personal level, sit and think about it for a while, do you really care about how powerful the military of the nation who happen to inhabit is, as long as you are happy? Surely things like access to good jobs, health care, and schools, are far more important. As long as you and your children are prosperous, happy, healthy, and well educated, what does it matter if you can't drop napalm onto the heads of illiterate goat herding peasants halfway across the world? 

We don't live in the colonial era anymore, gone are the days of slavery and outright theft. Trade is the way of the modern world, and the easily available technology of the modern world is the ultimate force multiplier. As such, It has taken the world's only military hyperpower and her allies 13 years to fight the Taliban to a standstill, so where is all of this expenditure getting us? 

As long as your nation has enough military bite to police its own borders, and act as a deterrent to wantonly aggressive foreign powers, then the military of your nation is completely fit for purpose. As such, I believe that the United States could happily shave 20% from its military spending, scale back its operations accordingly, and still be fit for purpose, allowing American citizens to sleep safe in the knowledge that their nations military expenditure still more than trebles the spending of all of the nations combined which could be deemed to be even remotely hostile. 

So should the British Government carry on with military cuts despite the warnings of the esteemed Mr Gates? 

Of course it should.