Apart from the threat of nuclear weapons.....

Here come the robots. An army of robots is a scary scenario and is not far off.

The drones have led the way.
One of the American military hierarchy said they already have drones that can operate under water.
That's going to add a whole new dimension to submarine warfare.

Mankind at this point in history shows no sign of ever being able to live in peace,even though we've been talking about it for decades and even tried to bring it about with a United Nations assembly.

Still there has been no end to war. Nothing has worked.

Foxy,

In the last 70 years the % of people killed in war has dropped to historic lows, and is a tiny fraction of what it was in any previous century. Similarly the % of expenditure on arms and weapons is also at historic lows.

While it would be great never to need armies again, that is certainly not the situation yet. Armed forces take decades to prepare, and even if one has no intention to attack or invade, one needs to ensure that one is prepared to provide sufficient deterrence for any potential conflict in the next decade.

With China's booming capitalist economy has come the capability to arm itself which it has done with gusto launching its second aircraft carrier in less than a decade. Given its history of conflict with its neighbours, and its territorial ambitions in the south china sea, I don't believe that it is yet time to let down our guard.

China and US both know they are No.1 power. China's population is 1.4billion , 1/4 of world population. Britain's empire used to rule 1/4 of the world . China may out-vote the Yanks but not by elections.

Disarm everyone and the bully with the most muscle will take over and then someone peaceful will, in desperation, invent a slingshot or the bow and arrows.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Of course putting the arms race into reverse
would most certainly be a gradual one because
so much money is currently spent on military
purposes that rapid disarmament would jolt the
economies of the superpowers and indeed of the
world, and partly because disarmament requires
increasing trust between the parties involved.

Moreover, Russia suffers the particular
disadvantage of having to maintain a huge army to
protect its long border with its unfriendly
neighbour, China. Whereas the United States has only
one nuclear enemy, Russia faces missiles pointed
at it by every other nuclear power in the world
and Russia's sense of menace is further increased by
the fact that its principal enemy is the only nation
in the world that has ever used nuclear weapons.

Having an American President - from whom one can
expect the unexpected with his hand on the nuclear
button is also a bit of a concern.

Foxy,

I have no doubt that while China has missiles aimed at Russia, it also aims them at India and the US, all of whom aim missiles back.

It is hard to disarm when burgeoning superpowers such as India and China are arming up, and China is showing naked aggression against its neighbours.