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As the growth of government spending in the years in the run up to the First World War shows, she would be allowed to continue to increase her navy accordingly. Martel offers an alternative view to military strength as a gauge of a nation's power. He argues that "The essence of power is influence Power determines who gets what, when, where and how." It is true that military power can be used to exert an influence on other powers, yet there are examples in which Britain used economic and diplomatic pressure to control situations. Nielson makes an acknowledgement of Great Britain's "unparalleled influence in foreign capital markets" as a result of her large (44%) overseas investments, compared to the other main lending nations (France- 19.9%, Germany- 12.8%) which would have been used to manipulate foreign governments to Britain's will. There are numerous occasions when Britain, through means of diplomatic alliances, increased or secured their influence in areas of the globe. The Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 kept British influence in the Far East, while reducing the need of such a large British naval presence in the region. Similarly the Anglo-French alliance of 1912 kept British influence in the Mediterranean while reducing the size of its fleet in the vicinity. Although the articles agree that Britain was still a power in 1914 the basis of that power, be it naval strength, or influence coming from economic and diplomatic pressure, is not agreed upon.
             Whether Great Britain's foreign policy of the early twentieth century was made from a position of weakness or strength is not disputed by the articles. British politicians had realised by the end of the nineteenth century, with the rise and imperialism of other powers like Germany and Russia, that they no longer could protect the whole empire, and most importantly India, adequately. This view is reflected by Lord George Hamilton, Secretary of State for India, who in 1900 wrote "Unless we are prepared to risk something ourselves or to throw our lot with some of the great European Powers we cannot expect them to assist us in protecting our own interests" .