All the good things have been taken...
*sniff*
Michael PortilloAcross the globe many of the WestÂ’s hopes for a better world lie in smouldering heaps. The optimism that we felt when freedom swept across eastern Europe is now a distant memory.
We heaved a sigh of relief when the American-Soviet nuclear weapons standoff, based on mutually assured destruction, was dismantled. Now North Korea, which may not be susceptible to any conventional theory of deterrence, has the bomb. IranÂ’s revolutionary ShiÂ’ite government plans to have one too.
AmericaÂ’s role since the Soviet collapse as the worldÂ’s single superpower has brought it unforeseen difficulties. Its supremacy has bred resentment and defiance among both its enemies and friends.
We should certainly not be nostalgic for the bygone era of the two superpowers. The alleged stability of that age was dearly bought. Around the world many proxy wars were bloodily fought between communism and capitalism, and numerous vile regimes were propped up by the global rivals. In 1962, during the Cuba missile crisis, we were brought to the edge of global nuclear war, a position that is inconceivable today.