1978 - Professor Sir Hermann Bondi - Defence and the Citizen

In this lecture Professor Sir Hermann Bondi discussed the implications for citizenship of the subject of defence. He believed that British defence is linked to the NATO Alliance whose main purpose should be the deterrence of military options by the Warsaw Pact Alliances always bring stresses and strains between members with respect to moral and physical burden sharing. When judging the actions of the United States, being in a dominant position with more responsibilities, we should give more benefit of doubt in their actions though sharing with them some of the pressing moral problems. Though acknowledging that nuclear weapons are ‘terribly nasty,’ he defended their necessity within NATO strategy from the view of deterring potential wars of limited liability by the great powers. Overall, the prevention of war is the primary goal of defence agencies. This involves not only an understanding of our allies, but also those on the other side. Stability is the most important aim, not because the world that we live in is the best of all possible, but because the forcible redrawing of borders is unlikely to make anyone happier.