[W]hat would become of the international system the day after the threat of mega-terrorism materialized…? At the international level, conventional rules of sovereignty would be abandoned overnight. — Stephen D. Krasner [blogimg]http://www.un.org/News/dh/photos/large/2011/05-24-Abyei-Patrol.jpg[/blogimg] Cold War Uncertainty The world seemed poised on a razor’s edge, ready at any moment to plunge itself into the dark abyss of a nuclear holocaust. Alliances were formed, pacts drawn up and gunboat diplomacy was standard fare. At the United Nations, an emotional Soviet leader – Nikita Khrushchev – pounded his shoe on the table. And in schoolrooms around the world, children were instructed to hide under their desks in the event of a local nuclear strike.