Commentary
May 14, 2026
Growing up in North East England during the height of the Cold War, the themes reflected in the collections of the Imperial War Museum in London, explaining how the U.K. coped with both the First and the Second World Wars, and then prepared to survive what many anticipated would be a nuclear third world war between the United States and the USSR, are very relevant to me. These three wars, both hot and cold, shaped my outlook on life and my chosen career as a historian and foreign policy expert. They also taught me the importance of resilience, which is the primary focus of this lecture.
Let me first draw out why these wonderful collections have so much resonance.
History tells us how wars end, but it rarely tells us how they start (beyond the triggering events). As you can see for yourselves in the collections, countries rarely anticipate a war they will have to fight, nor are they prepared for the war they set out to fight. Every war turns out differently. The battlefield constantly evolves. Militaries must adapt to the emergencies they face in the demands of the moment. They improvise weapons and personal equipment like body armor and gas masks, and they build new military defenses right there on the battlefield. Societies shore up the home front against new perils.
