I write to you today as a father of a twelve year old son and grandfather to a one year old granddaughter. I write with a heavy heart and many concerns and worries for their future. However I write now with an even heavier heart after listening with care to all the challenges that face our world because of the situation in the Ukraine and Crimea.
I know that you are a politician, I know that you have worked hard to get where you are. You have probably done some things in your life that you are very proud of, the Sochi Games for example. Equally you have probably done some things that will never come to light that you are not so proud of. I am not here to judge you or your past for it is not my right. I am writing today to ask you as the good man I believe you to be, and I believe that fundamentally all are born good it is their acts that change that, to look at what is happening and think about the consequences.
In the 1980's I remember being at college, where I was studying science A levels, watching a really disturbing film called The War Game. You may not have seen it but you can always watch it on YouTube not that I think you will because I think you probably know all about it or have seen something similar in Russia. Many young people today will not understand what it meant to live under the shadow of Mutually Assured Destruction and even though I went on to study Nuclear Physics as a first degree at university I still wonder why we ever allowed weapons of mass destruction to ever be made.
Today I see that prospect looming again, a new cold war, a new struggle for global domination. And sir, I am frightened. I am frightened not for me, I am 49 and have had my chances in life, no I am frightened for my children and their children.
I have spent my whole life trying to preserve life, save life and better life for those around us who have less. I am probably the world's craziest socialist capitalist that has ever existed but as I have grown older I reason that we do not improve our world by the bullet but by the word and the thought.
I saw the faces of the soldiers on the television both Ukrainian and Russian and I saw real fear in their eyes. As a psychologist I worry that the pressure they are under may lead to mistakes being made that could cycle out of control. I worry that the pressure all world leaders are under at the moment may lead to mistakes being made.
I am not so silly as to listen to propaganda from either side. I am someone who will study and reflect. I have never believed Russians are the enemy nor believe that the average Russian believes that Western peoples are their enemy. All peoples of this world are equal, we all breathe air and we all bleed the same colour and fundamentally we all share the same planet. There are rich and poor in both our countries and many people from both share common loves such as sport or theatre or science. We have our disagreements but that is the nature of human beings. That doesn't mean we should resort to war.
I understand that there are native Russians in the Crimea, I understand that there is a need to ensure their safety but I do not want to see a war come about because of this. And I don't really think that you do either. I am not a diplomat, in fact my mouth often gets me into trouble, but I am someone who deeply loves his children and believes passionately about the world we live in.
I have a dream, just like Dr King did, that one day all men and women will be equal and that their children will play together in friendship and cooperation where differences are talked through and violence is a thing of the past. Call me a fool but are we not supposed to be civilised and isn't this the way in which we mark a civilisation, debate and democracy.
I ask you in this open letter, which I sadly doubt that you will read or even gain knowledge of, let alone reply to, to talk to your friends in the Ukraine. Talk to your friends in the West and the East, talk to those who you would seek to undermine the interests of your people, talk to those who are on the streets those who are poor and those who are scared for their children. Seek peace I beg of you, seek diplomacy for it is the right thing to do. Be the bigger man and say 'you know I can wipe you out if I chose to but I'd rather be your partner and make everyone a better life'
Yesterday I watched as my older son left to undergo his officer selection for the Royal Navy as an engineer and it made me very proud. He his the most gorgeous gentle soul and I know that joining the armed forces would seem like the opposite of that but the technology that the war machine brought can go a long way to helping humanitarian causes too. By all means protect your families but do so in a humanitarian way. Work for peace I ask of you not for war. For in war everyone loses and if this escalates to the point of superpower versus superpower all that will happen is that there will come a point that even the Generals in their bunkers will have nothing left to come out to.
Yours with a heavy heart and a picture of those whom I spoke of and love.
Trace Senior
