{"id":250620,"date":"2025-11-08T04:48:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T04:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250620\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T04:48:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T04:48:11","slug":"is-britain-a-rising-power-experts-debate-the-uks-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250620\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Britain a rising power? Experts debate the UK\u2019s position"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain\u2019s World, the Council on Geostrategy\u2019s online magazine, asked whether the United Kingdom can still be called a rising power. <\/a><\/p>\n

The question follows IMF forecasts suggesting Britain will be the G7\u2019s second fastest-growing economy in 2026 and could overtake Japan by 2030 to become the world\u2019s fifth largest.<\/p>\n

Several experts argued<\/a> that Britain\u2019s global influence remains robust but constrained by persistent domestic weaknesses. Stephen Booth of TheCityUK described the UK as a \u201cleading middle power\u201d rather than a resurgent one, pointing to the country\u2019s economic size, diplomatic reach, and defence partnerships as evidence of continuing relevance\u2014but also warning that structural issues at home could limit its potential.<\/p>\n

Others were more bullish. William Freer, of the Council on Geostrategy, suggested that Britain\u2019s decades of \u201cmanaged decline\u201d might finally be ending, noting forecasts that could see the UK\u2019s GDP overtake Germany\u2019s in the 2030s. Yet, he cautioned that tackling problems such as energy costs and demographic pressures remains essential if any \u201crise\u201d is to be sustainable.<\/p>\n

Some contributors were sceptical of the \u201crising power\u201d label. Dr Ksenia Kirkham of King\u2019s College London warned against overstating the IMF\u2019s optimism, arguing that the UK lacks the innovation-led growth and investment patterns typical of genuine ascents. She criticised the government\u2019s industrial strategy as incoherent and too narrowly focused on military rearmament.<\/p>\n

A more strategic perspective came from James Rogers, the Council\u2019s co-founder, who said Britain\u2019s future strength would depend on its willingness to invest heavily in defence, energy and infrastructure. By doing so, he argued, the UK could become \u201cstrategically indispensable\u201d within NATO and the wider Western alliance system.<\/p>\n

The article also features contributions from former ministers and defence officials, including Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Peter Watkins, who emphasised the UK\u2019s enduring military, technological, and diplomatic capabilities despite fiscal constraints and regional competition.<\/p>\n

Read the full debate at Britain\u2019s World<\/a>, which explores Britain\u2019s international role and global influence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain\u2019s World, the Council on Geostrategy\u2019s online magazine, asked whether the United Kingdom can still be called a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-250620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}