Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 28 of his department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what countries his department considers as emerging middle powers.

The Strategic Defence Review set out the case for transformation, including growing multipolarity and strategic competition, this included the reference to ‘middle powers.’ The Defence Diplomacy Strategy published in March 2026 sets out our intention for UK Defence to be more deliberate, targeted and coherent in deepening its international relationships with allies and partners to support defence and wider foreign policy. However, any detailed assessments beyond this of the United Kingdom's interests, relationships and the international security environment are necessarily classified and held internally within the Ministry of Defence.