When the Soviet empire collapsed in the 1990s, the existential threat to our borders became a thing of the past. At the time, we did not realise that this would only be temporary in the grand scheme of history. Taking a deep breath, we entered a period known as the ‘peace dividends’, which led to strategic calm in Europe. This resulted, in our country as in the rest of Europe, in a continuous erosion of defence budgets and, de facto, a reduction in our military c...Lire la suite