Integrated Review

The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, often known as the Integrated Review, is a review currently underway by the British Government into the foreign policy, defence, security and international development of the United Kingdom. It has been described as the largest review of its kind since the Cold War.

Background

The Integrated Review replaces previously separate reviews into foreign policy, defence, national security and international development, such as the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review. It combines the scope of these individual reviews, making it the largest such review carried out by the UK government since the Cold War.

Set to be released five years since previous reviews, the Integrated Review comes after the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, its subsequent "Global Britain" ambition, the 2019–2020 Persian Gulf crisis, the rise in space warfare, the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent economic downturn, several terrorist attacks and the use of hybrid warfare, particularly by Russia and China. It was announced by Boris Johnson that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development would merge in September 2020, before the complementing of the review. The Defence Select Committee recently released a report titled 'In Search of Strategy — The 2020 Integrated Review'.

In September 2020, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace explained that the review would deliver an armed forces that was "fit for tomorrow's battles" by switching from "traditional warfighting" to "technological warfighting". He explained that this would entail being forward deployed — for example, in Europe to deter Russian activity, in the Middle East to combat terrorism or in the Asia-Pacific to counter China — and relying on technology to deliver "speed, readiness and resilience" instead of "mass and mobilisation", including in the domains of space, cyberspace and sub-sea.

Overview

The review began in October 2019 and was due to be released in early 2020, however the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom caused it to be delayed. The review restarted in July 2020. A call for evidence was published on 13 August 2020 by the Cabinet Office.

In a statement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the Integrated Review would be underpinned by a commitment to spend at at least 2% of GDP on defence, as defined as a target by NATO, and 0.7% of GNI to international development. Additionally, the review will be underpinned by a commitment to maintain the British nuclear deterrent. The Prime Minister summarised the reviews's objectives as follows:

• To define the United Kingdom's role in the world, as well as its long-term strategic aims for national security and foreign policy.
• To set out how the UK will be a "problem-solving" and "burden-sharing" nation, working more effectively with its allies.
• To determine the capabilities required for the next decade and beyond to pursue the UK's objectives and address the risks and threats it faces.
• To address reforms to Government systems and structures to achieve these goals.
• To outline the implementation for these goals and how it will be evaluated.

See also

• National Security Strategy (United Kingdom)
• Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015

Further reading

• "Integrated Review of security, defence, development and foreign affairs: a reading list". House of Commons Library.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

• "Defence in the 2020s". House of Commons Library.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)