Imperatives for Defence

End of the cold war, or variations of that theme, has been a popular refrain accompanying each turn in east-west relations since Mr Gorbachev got into his stride. Sceptics have doubted and urged prudence, especially over measures of disarmament, in so volatile a situation as that obtaining today, with the Soviet Union itself somewhere between disarray and terminal decline and its allies dissociating themselves from the alliance with every gust of popular wind.

 

General Sir David Fraser - Friday, 26th October, 1990