Geographical Magazine Geopolitical hotspot: Foreign aid cuts diminish the ‘Global’ in ‘Global Britain’ Written by Tim Marshall Tim Marshall is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and geopolitics columnist at Geographical Take Global Britain, add defence spending and then subtract foreign aid cuts, and what do you get? Globalish Britain? There’s an inherent tension between Global Britain, as defi ned by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and cutting a key soft- power tool that helps Britain to continue to ‘punch above its weight’ around the globe. There’s a further tension when you add increased defence spending because the increase is almost the same amount as the aid cuts – about £4 billion per annum. What message does that send about the type of presence Britain will have in the world?