-by building dissonance within. Some like to remember fondly the call by Ronald Reagan for Gorbachev “to tear down this wall”. The United States “Won the Cold War” said George Bush Senior in his State of the Union Address. We need to step back and recognize with some humility that the Soviet Union fell largely of its own weight rather than as a result of external pressure. Again today Russia is economically weak. It has become an exporter of raw materials, its industrial sector is weak, and its revenues are already falling. Conditions now offer the opportunity to aggravate Russia’s economic frailty – let’s focus on that.

Over the last decade, the European land armament industry developed into a thriving market driven by growing demand from the BRICS, a new wave of emerging countries and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The increasing militarism prior to the Great War had its roots in national beliefs and ideologies constructed during the 19^th century in European countries.

There are some disturbing similarities between present-day Asia and pre-1914 Europe.

The First World War gave rise to the emergence of the discipline of international relations, but it was the Second World War and the Cold War that fostered its development.

The Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920 marked the end of the First World War whose purpose was to establish the conditions for enduring, if not perpetual peace.

The Great War has shaped many 20^th century practices and norms.