Proxy warfare

Defence is an ever-increasing priority, and hence adequate spending on it is required. Yet debate too often focuses on how much to spend rather than what we want that spending to achieve. As Carl von Clausewitz famously noted in On War – war is the continuation of policy by other means. The political objective is the goal and military force is the means. If we are to justify increased defence spending — money that could otherwise be spent elsewhere — we must first be clear about the political objectives it is intended to serve. I put defence spending into roughly…