I was doing some research on the Vietnam war as the Chilcot enquiry was unfolding – a tanned Tony Blair attempting to answer for his decisions in that fateful spring of 2003 – when it occurred to me just how many mistakes could be avoided if only our leaders had a better grasp of history. So I changed the direction of my blog. No more silly stuff – life is too short.
The Second World War with its obvious fascist enemies and allied efforts has cast a long shadow. This ‘good’ justifiable war has given many of our subsequent Western leaders the misguided impression that war works; it is portrayed as moral, courageous and often the only option. But in our complicated world clear-cut baddies like Hitler and his Nazis don’t exist in the same way. Our politicians need to draw parallels with less well-defined conflicts and murkier outcomes and maybe then they would be less gung-ho. Its not black and white world out there; good versus an evil it’s capable of replacing rarely exists and until people realise that I will keep blogging. After all what harm can a little history do?

Tessa Dunlop