Ben Barry: The Rise and Fall of the British Army

What happens when an army built for the past must face an uncertain future?

In this episode of Facing Coming Storms, Peter Apps sits down with Ben Barry - Senior Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and author of The Rise and Fall of the British Army, 1975–2025 for a sweeping conversation charting five turbulent decades of British military history.

From Cold War tank battles and the Falklands to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the modern NATO front line, they trace how the British Army has evolved, adapted, and in some ways, struggled to keep pace with the world it’s meant to protect against.

What You’ll Learn

Past Lessons, Future Fights: How the Cold War, Falklands, and Gulf War shaped the Army’s doctrine and what those lessons mean for today’s threats.

Culture & Capability: Why the shrinking size of the force has widened the gap between the Army and the society it serves, and why that matters for modern warfare.

Strategic Realities: The hard truths behind NATO’s Strategic Reserve Corps role and the logistics, readiness, and ambition it demands.

This episode is a powerful reminder that military capability isn’t just about equipment or numbers - it’s about mindset, memory, and preparation. Ben shows us why understanding the past isn’t nostalgia, i’s strategy.

Facing Coming Storms is brought to you by the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, in partnership with the Project for the Study of the 21st Century, and produced by Urban Podcasts.