Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site harvard.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!teddy!panda!talcott!harvard!matthews From: matthews@harvard.ARPA (Jim Matthews) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Re: Re: We need the arms race (well, not quite...) Message-ID: <298@harvard.ARPA> Date: Wed, 16-Jan-85 21:56:30 EST Article-I.D.: harvard.298 Posted: Wed Jan 16 21:56:30 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 20-Jan-85 01:38:17 EST References: <734@loral.UUCP> <43000005@rna.UUCP> <825@watdcsu.UUCP> <290@enmasse.UUCP> Organization: Aiken Computation Laboratory, Harvard Lines: 20 > > No, but our record is pretty damn good. Think back and figure out > > when was the last time the world had fourty years without a major war > > (ie a confrontation of the world powers). > > But if you insist, Pax Britanica- from the end of the Napoleanic era > until WWI. The point is that just because we have avoided global > thermonuclear warfare so far is no reason to believe that we will > continue to do so in the future. Yes, the Pax Britanica was an amazing achievement, but its lessons would disapoint today's pro-peace activists. The Restoration peace was forged with a mutually-recognized balance of power, and had little to do with a fear of war's consequences. The best treatment of this period can be found in A World Restored, by Henry Kissinger, where he emphasizes that those who frantically seek peace most rarely find it. A steady balance of power, with arms races if necessary, remains the best strategy for avoiding war. Jim Matthews matthews@harvard