The Rising Price of Freedom
In the last 5 years, we have witnessed a rapid escalation of threats and risks which undermine the prosperity of the UK, and of people across the world. We have witnessed the return of armed conflict in Europe, with the brutal Russian attack on Ukraine. In the past year, the Middle East has gone from uneasy stability, to a rapidly escalated situation which threatens to spill out beyond the confines of national borders and has already resulted in vast humanitarian catastrophe.
The rising intensity and frequency of global conflicts pose a significant challenge to the UK, creating instability across borders and driving millions into humanitarian crises. These heightened geopolitical tensions are fragmenting partnerships at a time when global cooperation is more critical than ever. From health crises like antimicrobial resistance and pandemics to the urgent realities of climate change, the future demands a unified global response.
To tackle these complex issues, we must strategically use the tools at our disposal. At the Coalition for Global Prosperity, we advocate for the "3Ds"—Defence, Development, and Diplomacy—working together to address global threats and prevent crises from reaching our shores.
CGP’s new report ‘The Rising Price of Freedom’ sets out the growing costs of security and prosperity from state-based threats such as Russia, to transnational issues like the impacts of climate change. The report calls for 3.5% spending on international affairs engagement to combat the rising threats of our era. This includes 2.5 defence and 0.7 diplomacy.
“At a time when global threats are escalating—from authoritarian aggression to climate crises—the UK cannot afford to retreat from its international responsibilities or its partners.”
— Zoe Swanwick, Researcher and Author
Foreword
In 2018, the British Foreign Policy Group and the Coalition for Global Prosperity published a report urging the UK to allocate 3% of its GDP to international affairs, including 2% on defence. This was a prescient call to action in response to an increasingly perilous world. In 2024, the stakes are even higher. The international landscape has transformed more dramatically and rapidly than we could have anticipated. State and transnational threats have escalated, demanding an urgent and robust response.
This report by the Coalition for Global Prosperity rightly asserts that increased strategic, international spending is not just necessary but essential to the safety and security of everyone in the United Kingdom, in our global, interconnected, and increasingly dangerous world. As the geopolitical context has evolved, so too has the domestic political landscape. While some might be tempted to follow the isolationist thinking emanating from elements of the Republican Party in the US and other parts of the West, in the UK there is a well-established, but by no means secure, cross-party consensus about the need to have a set of proactive and outward-looking international policies which will inter alia protect and promote our national interests.
A balanced and strategic approach, integrating defence, diplomacy, and development, is essential to building a secure and prosperous future for the UK and the global community.
An overall budget allocation of 3.5% of GDP to defence, diplomacy and development would, spent well, unlock the UK’s true continuing potential as a global leader and benefit the UK as well as contributing to global peace, security and prosperity on a more sustainable Planet.
Sir Myles Wickstead KCMG CBE