Defence Secretary: NATO Allies, We Are in a ‘Pre-War World’

Britain's Defence Secretary Grant Shapps delivers a speech on defending the UK and its allies, at Lancaster House, in London, on Jan. 15, 2024. Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

NATO allies must accept we have moved from a post-war world to a pre-war world and increase defence spending, the defence secretary has said.

Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps wrote in The Telegraph on Wednesday that alliance members should look beyond the 2 percent defence spending target to bolster collective security, warning that powers like China and Russia are “aligning” and “our democracy is in their crosshairs.”

Mr. Shapps also called on partners to increase efforts to support Ukraine in its war with Russia and to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic defence sector.

The minister made the remarks ahead of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the defence treaty.

Bad Actors on the Global Stage Are Aligning

“We have moved from a post-war to a pre-war world,” Mr. Shapps wrote, urging NATO allies that while we mark the anniversary of the alliance, members must consider its future as we face the prospect of hostile actors on the global stage presenting new threats to the West.

“Russia is menacing our neighbours. China is increasingly belligerent. Iran is using its proxies to cause regional havoc from the Middle East to the straits of Yemen. And North Korea is perpetually rattling its nuclear sabre,” the defence minister wrote.

“Increasingly, these malign powers are aligning and our democracy is in their crosshairs,” he added.

Hostile actions of one of those malign powers were revealed last week, when Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons that hackers affiliated with the Chinese communist regime were responsible for two “malicious cyber campaigns” on the Electoral Commission and against parliamentarians.

In response, the UK sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Limited, which is associated with the Chinese regime-affiliated hacking group, APT31; and Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, members of APT31.

Defence Spending Obligations

Mr. Shapps had warned the West that it was moving to a “pre-war” state in January. However, on this occasion, he specifically called on NATO allies to meet their spending obligations.

Alliance members should “do more to pay their way” to bolster security, he said, urging members to consider exceeding the 2 percent spending target that allies agreed on ten years ago.

According to Mr. Shapps, the UK’s defence spending exceeds the minimum, currently at 2.28 percent though he had committed to increase that to 2.5 percent.

Mr. Shapps said that “we must look beyond that target to shore up our defences. Yet some nations are still failing to meet even the 2 percent. That cannot continue. We can’t afford to play Russian roulette with our future.”

American taxpayers have traditionally been the largest funders of the alliance. However, the U.S.’s 3.49 percent spending was eclipsed by Poland last year, who had spent 3.90 percent on defence.

His message was backed by foreign secretary Lord David Cameron, who, at a meeting of NATO’s foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday, called on allies to “step up and spend more on defence in the face of continued Russian aggression and a more dangerous world.”

Support for Ukraine

Mr. Shapps also said that allies must “redouble our efforts to support Ukraine,” stating that with the “right support,” the Eastern European country was able to render the Russian navy “functionally inactive” in the Black Sea. He further claimed that Ukraine is “defending the frontiers of freedom for us all.”

Since 2022, the UK has provided over £7 billion in military support to Ukraine and had trained more than 60,000 military personal since 2014.

Britain's Defence Secretary Grant Shapps (R) meets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 28, 2023. UK Ministry of Defence

In Brussels, Lord Cameron had said that Ukraine was “closer to NATO than ever,” saying that the alliance “must sustain the critical support Ukraine needs to win the war.”

However, Lord Cameron ruled out a direct “boots on the ground” NATO intervention in Ukraine, telling the BBC’s “Ukrainecast” podcast on Thursday, “We don’t want to give Putin a target like that.”

The foreign secretary said instead that the UK would use the “architecture” of NATO to deliver support to the Eastern European country, but distinguished between a NATO mission “for Ukraine” as opposed to “in Ukraine.”

“I think it’s not escalatory to say we’re going to help this independent, sovereign country to fight off an aggressor and we’re going to give it all the help we can in order to do that,” the former prime minister said.

Stockpiling and Munitions

Mr. Shapps also called for allies to “bolster our Euro-Atlantic defence sector,” which means investing more in ammunition and stockpiles.

The defence secretary said that the UK continues to be a leading force in the NATO partnership. It is providing the largest continent in Steadfast Defender, the defence bloc’s largest European training exercise since the Cold War.

The minister said he had signed several multilateral defence procurement initiatives, “helped boost” Ukraine’s reserves with a £245 million investment in ammunition, and announced a deal to make the UK the largest drone supplier to Ukraine.

Vehicles and equipment are loaded onboard MV Anvil Point at the Sea Mounting Centre in Marchwood near Southampton, Hampshire, on Feb. 13, 2024. Ben Birchall/PA

According to the government, in 2023 the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD’s) spending totalled £52.8 billion, £20.3 billion of which was spent on capital investments in infrastructure and equipment.

The UK has the fourth-largest defence budget in the world at $70 billion, with the U.S. in the lead ($766.6 billion), followed by China ($242.4 billion) and Russia ($87.9 billion), according to the MoD.