Why Britain’s army chief fears an accidental war with Russia

Britain’s most senior military officer said that the risk of an accidental war breaking out between Russia and the West is greater than at any time during the Cold War. General Nick Carter, chief of the UK defense staff, spoke about this during an interview with Times Radio.

“I just think that we’re in a much more competitive world than we were even 10 or 15 years ago. And I think the nature of the competition between states and great powers, leads to greater tensions. And I think that tension is the thing that one needs to watch for,” Gen. Nick Carter said, CNN reporter, as per a news release sent to them.

The military official compared the current situation with previous times in his military career since 1978.

“When you and I were growing up, it was a bipolar world. Two blocs: Soviet Union and the West. We then went into a period where it was unipolar, and the United States was entirely preeminent,” he told journalist Tom Newton Dunn, CNN reported.

“And I think we are now into a period where it’s more multi-polar, and I think in a multi-polar world with people competing for different objectives and on different agendas, there’s a greater risk of tension leading to the sorts of things that we are talking about,” the general said.

Carter warned politicians of provoking unnecessary escalation. He further added asked the politicians to be “careful that people don’t end up allowing the bellicose nature of some of our politics to end up in a position where escalation leads to miscalculation.”

“Many of the traditional diplomatic tools and mechanisms that you and I grew up with in the Cold War; these are no longer there. And without those tools and mechanisms there is a greater risk that these escalations or this escalation could lead to miscalculation. So I think that’s the real challenge we have to be confronted with,” the general said.