Geopolitical shocks expose need for sustainable UK defence investment governance

I am pleased to share my latest piece in Sustainable Views:

“Geopolitical shocks expose need for sustainable UK defence investment governance.”

At a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, the UK faces a fundamental challenge: how to finance long-term defence commitments without compromising fiscal sustainability or transparency.

In the article, I argue that the UK should consider a Sustainable Defence Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) as a governance mechanism, one that can improve accountability, smooth expenditure over time, and align defence investment with broader economic resilience.

This is not just a conceptual idea. It is part of an ongoing research project that several colleagues and I are currently developing at the University of Exeter (Robert Herian John Panneerselvam Christopher Carr). We believe that, now more than ever, our country needs to think strategically about intergenerational financial resilience, rather than relying on short-term funding responses to external shocks.

Importantly, this is not about increasing spending per se, but about how spending is governed, structured, and sustained over time.

There is a real opportunity here for policymakers, across the spectrum, to engage with new financial architectures that can support both national security and long-term economic stability. Constructive engagement from institutions such as the UK Government, including leadership within No.10, Keir Starmer, and especially across parties, such as the leadership of the Green Party of England and Wales, Carla Denyer MP, and Adrian Ramsay MP, could help move this conversation forward.

Now, more than at any point in recent decades, is the time to think not only about immediate pressures, but about the future financial foundations of the country.

I would welcome thoughts and discussions from colleagues working at the intersection of finance, policy, and sustainability.

🔗 Read the full piece here:

https://lnkd.in/e_kp6MBV

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