As we all know, after the gruesomeness of the Second World War ended, the two nuclear superpowers engaged in what is called ‘Cold War’. The Cold war was not funny, but a dangerous situation, where the superpowers, both weaponized and ready, were at a stagnant state when both kept increasing and stacking up their nuclear weapons, but feared to use the same as that would probably lead to destruction of mankind, and more importantly, their own nations.
When I first read about this situation in school, I imagined two playground bullies, willing to and afraid of annoying each other or each other’s allies, afraid because both are equally powerful.
Now, despite the non-proliferation treaties so adamantly endorsed by UN and the global superpowers, almost every country possesses nuclear weapons. World expenditure on defence is higher than that on education and food security, even in poor nations. The global situation makes one wonder, maybe we living in a constant state of Cold War, a playground of bullies, where everyone is a bully, either small or big.
Recently, the United States government demonized Putin as the ‘new Hitler’. Sanctions were imposed on Russian leaders and aggressive NATO military expansion was undertaken to Russia’s border. An anti-ballistic missile was installed, which is a key component of an offensive nuclear strike. The USA also threatened to impose a no-fly zone in Syria that would bring about shooting down Russian air crafts.
Some say that this new emerging hostility of America may increase the chances of WW III. Others claim that all these incidents give us nothing to worry about, as any use of these weapons would result in a mutual destruction of both nations, and possibly the entire world, and hence, neither would dare use them.
Another aspect of this situation is that some Russian experts have claimed that Russia possesses the power to annihilate entire America. Not to forget the annihilation of Russia itself.
It has been around seven decades since the first cold war, but here we are, with a population of billions that is at the mercy of a few playground bullies.
