Cold War Lessons

Today I met a friend of mine in town. He's in his late 80s and suffering from Alzheimer’s, but always stops to talks to me. He has led an amazing life.

To start with, he was one of the first people to work on Nuclear weapons, but also a founding member of the Oxford University Humanist foundation. He told me that he believed that the best way to prevent war at the time was to have a nuclear deterrent. This was what the Cold War was about.

There were 'at the brink' moments when world leaders debated whether to use the weapons or not. It got so close (the Cuban Missile crisis). I'm just pleased that when it came to it those in power thought better of killing thousands of people. It would have been world war three (and perhaps the end of the world).

It is wonderful that the Cold War is over now, but we should not forget it. There is so much we can learn from people who lived through the Cold War. Speak to your parents, your grandparents and ask them how they felt. I'm going to try and sit down with my friend, write up an interview and find out what he thinks about non-proliferation. You'll be the first to read it.