General Nicholas Carter, believes that the country’s military needs to “fundamentally” change in order to defend against threats to “the traditional set of international rules that have maintained our security and financial success since 1945.”
Saying that the “holiday from history” that Britain has enjoyed since the end of WWII is now over, the general warned that to be able to fight back, the country needs to better arm itself.
General Carter fears that Britain has fallen behind Russia and China amid what he described as a distinct shift in conflict tactics used by the two countries, which he said are “masters” at controlling the “gray area” between war and peace.
He named “energy, cash, corrupt business practices, cyber-attacks, assassination, fake news, propaganda – and good old-fashioned military intimidation” as examples of the weapons used to gain advantage in “this era of constant competition.”
“They will erode and finally overturn the democratic, rules-based, stable system under which we have all lived comfortably for nigh on three generations,” the general claimed.
This doom and gloom picture painted by General Carter comes at a time when relations between the UK and Russia are at a low ebb following the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England.
READ MORE: 'Still No Proof': Scholar Questions Skripal Case Probe Amid Amesbury Incident
Prime Minister Theresa May was quick to put the blame on Russia, which has categorically denied any role in the incident.
Following the incident, Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats and Russia responded in kind, sending home an equal number of British diplomatic staff and shuttering the British Council in St. Petersburg.
