Facing Coming Storms: Talking International Defence Preparing for a New Era of Confrontation
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Jan 27, 2025 Major General Andrew Sharpe, a retired British Army general with expertise in military doctrine, joins former U.S. officer Rocco Santurri, who provides insights from the Korean Peninsula, and defence consultant Victoria Mackarness, who focuses on modern warfare. They discuss the shift from counterinsurgency to conventional warfare, the complexities of cyber threats, and the challenges of military strategies amid rising global tensions. The conversation highlights the gap between military and civilian societies and addresses the public's understanding of these evolving threats.
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Two-Decade Mindset Shift
- Western militaries shifted from preparing for existential war to focusing on prolonged counterinsurgency after 9/11.
- That shift hollowed-out major-war capability and mindsets, leaving forces under-resourced for large-scale conflict.
Authoritarian Leaders Raise Risk
- Resurgent, personalized authoritarian leadership in Russia, China, Iran and North Korea raises expansionist risk.
- Those regimes plus shifting U.S. posture create a more unstable global balance than in recent decades.
Living With Constant Threat
- Societies living under persistent high-threat adapt culturally while maintaining vibrant civilian life.
- Younger generations may emotionally escape the threat even when it remains geopolitically immediate.