Global threats such as China creating a world ‘defined by danger, disorder and division’, Rishi Sunak warns

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, weaponisation of energy and food supplies and nuclear rhetoric, combined with China’s more aggressive stance over Taiwan, are threatening to create a world "defined by danger, disorder and division", Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned.

In the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, to be presented to MPs on Monday afternoon, Mr Sunak warned democratic nations like Britain needed to do more to "out-compete" those driving instability in the world, as he officially announced he would increase the UK’s defence spending target to 2.5 per cent of GDP.

He said China posed an "epoch defining challenge" to international order and stressed the UK's "immediate and most urgent priority" was restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, claiming the world could no longer be reduced to “democracy versus autocracy”, or be divided into binary, Cold War-style blocs.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister warned of a “growing prospect” the international security environment would further deteriorate in coming years, from the development of a number of advanced weapons systems and an increasing nuclear threat from countries including Iran and North Korea. He said tensions in the Indo-Pacific were increasing, where conflict “could have global consequences greater than the conflict in Ukraine”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to present his Integrated Review to MPs this afternoon. Picture: Getty Images

The document, subtitled “Responding to a More Contested and Volatile World”, is an update to an earlier Integrated Review published in 2021, which set out the UK Government's overarching national security and international policy objectives to 2025.

Mr Sunak said: “What could not be fully foreseen in 2021 was the pace of the geopolitical change and the extent of its impact on the UK and our people. Since then, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, weaponisation of energy and food supplies and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, combined with China’s more aggressive stance in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, are threatening to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division – and an international order more favourable to authoritarianism.”

Mr Sunak said he wanted to increase Britain’s partnerships with countries in Europe and beyond, pointing to a “new network” of ‘Atlantic-Pacific’ partnerships, based on a shared view the prosperity and security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific were inextricably linked. He said this would be highlighted by the growing importance of the G7, closer co-operation of countries such as Australia, the Republic of Korea and India with G7 countries, and the commitment of many Indo-Pacific countries to supporting Ukraine’s self-defence.

The review will also see £20 million of additional funding handed to the BBC World Service over the next two years to protect all 42 World Service language services in a bid to counter disinformation across the world.

Mr Sunak said: “Long-standing threats from terrorism and serious and organised crime are enduring and evolving, and may find new opportunities in events like the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

“Other transnational challenges such as large-scale migration, smuggling of people, narcotics and weapons, and illicit finance have become more acute, with grave human costs and strain on our national resources.”

The armed forces will receive £5 billion of extra funding as a direct result of the review, while the government will increase its target of spending from two per cent of GDP on defence, to 2.5 per cent in the future.