For hundreds of years Britain's policy was to keep a balance of power in Europe, only intervening if 1 power became a threat to the status quo. This meant Britain could use its resources for global expansion and trade in the rest of the world. This policy was called splendid isolation.
Now that...
What was the point in fighting 2 world wars, and over a million British lives in the cause of not being a slave to a European power.
You could also go back a bit further, and the threat of Napolean, helped by British victories at trafalger and waterloo :wave: