Kabul crisis shows we still need boots on the ground

Prof Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, said that the IR did not fully answer if Britain had enough "autonomous capability" to act without the US and "how far we've focused too much on capabilities we can only use when the Americans are there". Being so dependent on US forces "reduces your influence with the Americans", he said, "because if they know we can't do anything by ourselves then we don't have any options in a crisis".