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UK EYES A
ANNEX B TO
D/ACDS (CONCEPTS)108/5 DATED
OCT 89
THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT
2000
HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.
Since 1945 the British armed forces have been involved in
over 70 operations OOA, ranging in intensity from peacekeeping to limited conventional war, in duration from a single day to
12 years, and in scale from a handful of specialist troops to major all-arms task forces. These have included support for
the UN, defence of national interests, fulfilment of
agreements, restoration of sovereignty and colonial policing.
The record of such involvements and the ratio of incidents by
year are at Appendices 1 and 2. One characteristic which predominates is thus the variety of the tasks undertaken,
which has had implications for the planning of force
structures and command and control organizations. A second characteristic has been the preponderance of those operations which have been linked in some way to Britain's imperial past.
Although this legacy has become a factor of diminishing
importance as colonial responsibilities have been shed, failure to protect the remainder would entail considerable political damage ('). Thus, though they will be only a lesser
factor in the calculation of the UK's future interests in the
world and how they are to be pursued, these residual
responsibilities must nevertheless continue to be taken into
account.
THE THREATS TO UK INTERESTS OOA
2. The Soviet Union. The Soviet Union will remain, even
after uni- and possible multi-lateral arms reductions, the
'CDS 38/88
-
OOA Strategy Review.
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