As Vladimir Putin rattles his nuclear sabre, the human race is again on the brink of annihilation.

It doesn’t seem that long ago when I would go to bed each night fearful that there would be no tomorrow, thanks to nuclear missiles launched from Cuba. That was in 1962, and for two weeks, while a blockade of Cuba brought negotiations to a standstill, President Kennedy stood his ground and the Russians conceded.

History may not have told you what precipitated the Russian threat. The U.S. had placed missiles in Turkey giving the Russians the idea to counter by placing their own in the Northern Hem...