The Mystery and the Enigma

I grew up during the Krushchev and Brezhnev era. The Cold War was part of our every day news in the 60’s and 70’s. We heard about spies and the terrible things that Communism did to people. When our school history department took a group of students to the USSR, we all talked to them in hushed tones on their return, as if our north of England classrooms were bugged. Then in my 30th year, the Communist block fell spectacularly apart. In 1991 I remember driving past the notorious Lyublianka prison in Moscow and thinking “That’s where it USED to happen”. Past tense.

But today, the UK threw out Russian Diplomats, and the news reportage sounded horribly familiar. The Kremlin accusing the West, the West’s deft defence, parry and repost of actions and implications. I can already hear the sounds of trade deals falling apart, listed stock unravelling and politician’s blood pressure rising.

Eastern Europe may be in the middle of a heat wave, but the Big Freeze seems to be right behind.