‘If you want peace, prepare for war’ is a quote often shared from the Roman writer Vegetius. Our guests today use their background working with General Petraeus, the Italian Ministry of Defence, NATO’s Defense College, private military companies, and the US’ National Defense University to debate how the West might prepare for war if it wants to keep peace.
Dr Andrea Gilli is a lecturer at St Andrews and has shared his insights with both NATO and the Italian Ministry of Defence to argue why maintaining a technological lead over rivals such as China is so imperative – and why a strong defence industry is the only way to achieve this. Dr Sean McFate, by contrast, has drawn on his experience working for private military companies and previously argued that the contemporary world order is breaking. The threats the West faces vary in nature and methodology; investing in the tools that won the last conflict will not help us succeed in navigating future conflicts.
In BIGA’s first ever debate-style podcast, we posed three key questions to our guests:
- To keep peace, how should the West prepare for war?
- Is spending on defence technology a strategic or a tactical choice and what priority should it get?
- What does the future of NATO look like and what role can Britain play?
Be sure to listen to the podcast here!