Think of human race, not arms race

The recent fiery accusations by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West is setting a course for an arms race raises reminiscences of a bygone era. The world today surely could not afford an escalation in the balance of relations between various powers and a revival of the Cold War. "It's not our fault, we didn't start it, funnelling multibillions of dollars into developing weapons systems ... It's already clear that a new arms race is being unleashed in the world. We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into this," said Putin in his address to the State Council.

But when it comes to global security, exchanging blame is a measure that simply does not resolve issues. While many countries want to be recognised in world affairs, bringing that ambition to an arms race would not be of benefit to anyone. Neither for Russia nor the world.