The world seems teetering on the edge of a number of pretty massive precipices. Three of them are immediate and urgent.

As a dyed-in-the-wool Eurosceptic, I kind of hope that Greece will default on her payments and as a result will leave the Euro and the EU. But the consequences for the UK economy and banking system could be grave; and the geo-politics of the Eastern Mediterranean potentially unbalanced. An expansionist Russia would love a deep sea port, and Greece could well provide it. So let’s be careful what we wish for and pray that the EU negotiations are successful.

Similarly, the ceasefire in Ukraine is of course welcome, and we all hope that it holds and that a fair and peaceful settlement can be found. But can we really contemplate turning a blind eye to Russia’s aggressive invasion of Crimea and its stealthy invasion of Eastern Ukraine? Is that not appeasement of a kind not seen since Munich? And might it not have the same long-term effects, for example in Poland and the Baltic States? I visited the Royal Marines on cold-weather exercise in Arctic Norway last week. Could war really be possible under such circumstances?

The atrocities of Daesh/ISIS in Iraq and Syria continue, yet the UK’s contribution to the coalition is woefully small. I went on from Norway to Cyprus to see our troops (many of them from Wiltshire), and enjoyed sitting in the cockpit of a Tornado just back from a bombing mission in Iraq. But is it enough? Are we really making a useful contribution to destroying the evil which is Daesh?

Do we have a long-term moral strategic role to play in the world? If so, are we doing enough at this time of grave crisis? If not, then why are we doing anything at all? I was pondering all of this when on Friday I finished my visits to all of the war graves in North Wiltshire. It is a total of 203 graves, in 55 churchyards across the area. Most of those young men were 21 years of age or less.

Did they lose their lives in vain? Did those whose bodies more recently were carried down Royal Wootton Bassett High Street? I personally think not. I am a strong believer that ‘arms are the balance of peace’. We need to be strong to stand up to evil. Mr Putin and the murderers behind Daesh do not understand diplomacy or trimming or appeasement. Wicked people take advantage of that. They only understand strength and we need deterrence – not appeasement.