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UK is a nuclear power on sufferance of the US. It hasn't built its own nukes since 1960 or so. Which by an odd coincidence is right around when it lost its empi
by dTal 4y ago
UK is a nuclear power on sufferance of the US. It hasn't built its own nukes since 1960 or so. Which by an odd coincidence is right around when it lost its empire as well.
GDP is not a reliable metric of prosperity, but in any case the UK's GDP is built on financial services. The "moat" for that is essentially a "network effect" - people do business where other people do business. Interfere with that and it can vanish overnight.
"Soft power" is essentially a function of money. See above.
- wbl 4y agoThe UK maintains its own warheads and its own designs. The only thing it gets from the US is the submarine missile: the hulls are also domestic.
- dTal 4y agoI stand partially corrected; however it is worth noting that its "own designs" consist of a single warhead "closely based on" a US one. Although nominally the UK maintains the capacity to design a new weapons system, this capacity has not been tested.