The Cold War That Never Ended; Putin And The Nuclear Arms Race

        A generation of Americans, Russians and others grew up under the nuclear threat. Sirens went off weekly. Children practiced drills in school where they went beneath their desks in case of a nuclear weapons attack (which of course would be useless in the event of an actual attack). The Soviet Union and the United States were mortal enemies at each other's throats, but unable to budge one another because each held nuclear weapons that could completely obliterate the other side.
         It was hoped that with the end of the cold war, things would change for the better. In the cold war, the Soviets were protecting a flawed economic/political system, but that did not make them suicidal.
         In the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was economic hardship throughout Russia and the many countries that were under, or supported by the Soviet Union. This set the stage for what came next. Strong man rule emerged in Russia and elsewhere that benefits a few that have become extremely rich and powerful. They justify their rule by how they led Russia away from the economic collapse, but had Russia followed a different path, the country would be far more prosperous than it is now.
          Cronyism and oligarchy have not made the world safer. Unrestrained greed and corruption are never a good thing. Especially in a world increasingly impoverished and environmentally degraded.
          Russia and the United States are proceeding on a new nuclear arms race. Putin announced recently Russian advances in nuclear weapons that are even more destructive than what already exists, and what already exists can destroy all of human life on earth and most other life many times over. It is as though the cold war never ended, as another wasteful, stupid, insane new nuclear arms race begins.
           Putin has the power to stop it. But does he have the moral courage and strength of character to do so?