The Defence Green Paper 2010 - Discussion

The Defence Green Paper, “Adaptability and Partnership: Issues for a Strategic Defence Review” (Cm 7794), was published on 3 February 2010.

The Green Paper is the first part of the process leading to a new Strategic Defence Review, which will decide the future shape and role of the Armed Forces. We plan to conduct this review soon after the general election. The Green Paper does not reach any conclusions on future defence policy – this is for the Strategic Defence Review - but it rather sets out the questions that a Strategic Defence Review will have to answer.

We believe it is important to take account of a wide range of views in preparing for the Strategic Defence Review and hope that this Green Paper will help encourage and inform public debate. We would be particularly interested in hearing your thoughts and views on the key questions arising from Chapter 6 which are summarised below:

• Given that domestic security cannot be separated from international security, where should we set the balance between focusing on our territory and region and engaging threats at a distance?  
   
• What approach should we take if we employ the Armed Forces to address threats at distance? 
   
• What contribution should the Armed Forces make in ensuring security and contributing to resilience within the UK? 
    
• How could we more effectively employ the Armed Forces in support of wider efforts to prevent conflict and strengthen international stability?
           
• Do our current international defence and security relationships require rebalancing in the longer term? 
  
• Should we further integrate our forces with those of key allies and partners? 
      
• To what extent and in what areas should we continue to refocus our current efforts on Afghanistan?    

More detail on the background to these questions can be found within the Defence Green Paper at the following link: