There are groups of men around the world whose sole occupation is to plan for offensive and defensive wars; these include nuclear conflicts. Buried in Operations Directorates these contingency planners must foresee all possible threats to a country’s national security, however remote; they must also draw up military plans for promoting a country’s national interests, however fanciful. War gaming is played by them with the same earnestness as chess.
One is reminded here of the apocryphal story of the meeting our Chief of Army Staff had with his counterpart from a small neighbour. Our Chief remarked, in a lighter vein, that he had a contingency plan for our neighbour. Whereupon the visiting chief expostulated, ‘But General, we also have a contingency plan for India.’
Still, it may appear somewhat hypothetical and imaginary to laymen to visualize a global war starting in Europe, extending into Africa and the Gulf region, and including a nuclear dimension.
Continue reading this review