Protecting British Soldiers in Afghanistan

Abstract

The British experience in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade has been characterised by an unprecedented focus on force protection. Far from remaining confined to the military domain, force protection evolved into a highly politicised issue, becoming a chosen symbol of governmental competence (or lack thereof) in the party-political confrontation of the 2010 general election. But to what extent was this politicisation an indication of more profound changes in British strategic culture? Mark Clegg shows how the political discourse of force protection between 2006 and 2010 did not, in fact, spill over into a strategic cultural change, but suggests that the issue will remain at the centre of British public debate for a long time to come.