There are difficult times ahead for the world, as population grows & resources are pressured. This naturally causes paranoia & unrest. I actually heard my previous boss say 'what we need is a war', in response to whether we should Brexit. She was 50 at the time, with 2 teenage daughters. This is somewhat predictable in a country that since 1700 has invaded, had some control over, or fought conflicts in 171 of the world's 193 countries that are currently UN member states, with 107 victories & 24 defeats to its name.
Many Tories want a much 'harder' Brexit than we have now, with some wanting to weaken or dissolve organisations like the UN, OECD, ILO , EU & WTO, that have been designed to foster development, trade & cooperation, & improve the lives of most people. Many Tories & their government support Brexit & a loss of citizen rights, to help enable the changes they want that will preserve the wealth they have quietly built up for themselves post WW2 in times of relative plenty. Preparing for war is handy to bolster the arms industry & hide unemployment caused by Brexit. A stronger army would also be even more handy to help tackle future unrest. The only thing in their way is their current unpopularity, & the election of a Labour government. Introducing an elevated war status might help boost their support, as was seen at the start of the Ukraine conflict, & in The Falklands. It could even be used to avoid an election & help maintain their influence, if we go to war cabinet status. The trouble is, actual war is a destructive force that is randomly very damaging to anyone in its path. However, relatively speaking, for citizens in the USA, most of Russia & the UK, current conflicts are too far away to be of any major real concern. For the US, stirring up conflict far away in Europe & the Middle East is handy for weaking economic competion & grabbing resources to 'Make America Great Again'. For Russia, it is a way of regaining face internally, & also influence in a strategically important part of Ukraine. They have fought over this land with the Poles & others for much of history, & more recently, against anti communist , Nazi supporting White Cossacks. Russians are also paranoid that the US will nuke them off the face of the earth in order to get their vast oil reserves in Siberia, many miles away from the destruction of Russia's population. They have many long range dirty bombs to protect them from this reality, & they are independent & have a low level of debt. Indeed, Moscow in its time has been invaded by the Germans, French, Turks, Mongols, Swedes & Poles. In contrast Russia has never invaded London, Paris, Istanbul, Stockholm or Warsaw. Understandably, the Russians did invade Berlin, to help get rid of Hitler & they had East Berlin, East Germany, Warsaw & Poland handed to them post WW2 as a result. Previous to that Poland had been carved up in an agreement between Germany & Russia. Russia has a history of expanding its border of influence and control in an opportunistic fashion, & in response to agression. Its borders are quite large to handle, so this has been a fluid situation. It is the UK who has been more into total world domination, & part of our success is we have never been stupid enough historically to try to invade Russia. All who have done so have been defeated by its size and climate. As for them invading us...what is actually here for them to want to take & we are far to arsy to take on and fight.