UK defence spending— trends and implications

In times of budget tightening spending must be restricted to the strictly essential, whilst still ensuring the provision of an effective defensive force. This balance is not always easy to achieve, especially since defen‐sive requirernents’ have altered so dramatically in recent years Dr Michael Asteris here provides a comprehensive overview of the changes in defence spending dur‐ing and since the Cold War and analyses the effectiveness of spending including a review of the Defence Cost Study. He concludes that an efficient use of resources has bean made, but that the reduction in spending will inevitably, affect Britain's ability to act alone.