The UK has been at war since 2014, and nobody declared it
A Russian cyberattack could leave millions of Britons without power. The UK has been in a war since 2014 that no one declared but that is already taking its toll.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The UK has been at war since 2014, and nobody has declared it
The warning from a British minister about a Russian cyberattack that could "turn the lights out for millions of Britons" is not a laboratory hypothesis. It fits into a conflict that, according to an increasingly influential reading, has been active since 2014 without a formal declaration. Front lines are no longer measured in kilometres, but in power grids, undersea cables and radar screens.
The Mildenhall episode: the war that surfaced in 2017
A car tried to ram the entrance to the Mildenhall base in 2017. US personnel responded with gunfire and the base was temporarily locked down. A nearly forgotten incident that is now reinterpreted as an early skirmish in a confrontation the public barely perceived.
War since 2014? The thesis gaining ground
The claim that the UK has been in the conflict for years places its origins in 2014, in the midst of the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis. The rhetoric has changed: the 'No to war' demonstrations and Lennon songs have disappeared, while comparisons with Iraq resurface. Before, there were doubts about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction; now, it is argued that the Russian threat is evident.
Cyberspace as an economic battlefield
The minister's warning is the most concrete piece: a widespread blackout for millions of Britons would paralyse payments, transport and communications. It would be an instant economic blockade, without the need to deploy a single tank. Hybrid warfare is fought where it costs less to attack and more to defend.
The pacifist silence and the unsettling fact
What stands out is the contrast between the belligerence emerging in certain analyses and the underlying scepticism: some recall that neither Russia nor the UK has ever been conquered in its modern history, while others dismiss it all as noise: "Nothing is going to happen." Between both extremes lies the silence of the pacifist movements, which in the past filled the streets. While the debate goes on about who goes to the trenches, the war is already being fought, with economic and human costs, even though no one has officially declared it.
The warning from a British minister about a Russian cyberattack that could "turn the lights out for millions of Britons" is not a laboratory hypothesis. It fits into a conflict that, according to an increasingly influential reading, has been active since 2014 without a formal declaration. Front lines are no longer measured in kilometres, but in power grids, undersea cables and radar screens.
The Mildenhall episode: the war that surfaced in 2017
A car tried to ram the entrance to the Mildenhall base in 2017. US personnel responded with gunfire and the base was temporarily locked down. A nearly forgotten incident that is now reinterpreted as an early skirmish in a confrontation the public barely perceived.
War since 2014? The thesis gaining ground
The claim that the UK has been in the conflict for years places its origins in 2014, in the midst of the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis. The rhetoric has changed: the 'No to war' demonstrations and Lennon songs have disappeared, while comparisons with Iraq resurface. Before, there were doubts about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction; now, it is argued that the Russian threat is evident.
Cyberspace as an economic battlefield
The minister's warning is the most concrete piece: a widespread blackout for millions of Britons would paralyse payments, transport and communications. It would be an instant economic blockade, without the need to deploy a single tank. Hybrid warfare is fought where it costs less to attack and more to defend.
The pacifist silence and the unsettling fact
What stands out is the contrast between the belligerence emerging in certain analyses and the underlying scepticism: some recall that neither Russia nor the UK has ever been conquered in its modern history, while others dismiss it all as noise: "Nothing is going to happen." Between both extremes lies the silence of the pacifist movements, which in the past filled the streets. While the debate goes on about who goes to the trenches, the war is already being fought, with economic and human costs, even though no one has officially declared it.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (36 replies).
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