The row over defence spending may not make or break the Conservatives at the next election, but it could make or break Britain’s place in the world. Military capability is not just about defending the interests of one nation-state should it be threatened by another. It is about taking Britain’s share of responsibility for an ordered and peaceful world governed by international law. A great deal of recent British history is about precisely that, which is not to say that every judgement made by British politicians in these matters was right nor that every conflict involving British soldiers was just. But such reservations do not neutralise the general point. The issue in the news concerns the proportion of GDP that Britain will spend on defence in future. It has been at or above