We are perpetually underestimated; and for good reason. Our politicians are weak and spineless and manage to waste away billions on the defence budget and yet have such small and under-equipped armed forces, makes one wonder where one of the worlds largest defence budgets goes... Labour mismanagement, I'd bet.
The reason not to underestimate Britain is, that beneath the political inadequacy and squandering of resources, those who are in the Armed Forces or else in service of the Crown tend to be what is left of the old, unfallen Britain that can be found in society... Whilst we have diminished in power both literally and in our outlook on the world, the few that still remain and remember can generally be found in the services that do their best to defend and further us... Alas even we are dwindling, for nothing.