-1)3an organization of a substantial part of the world which would unquestionably
provoke a counter~organization of the rest of the world.
warfare not less but more likely.
It would make atomic
The advocate of world government right now
is in fact advocating, in the face of the declared Sovict position, that a
great power be coerced into making the neccessary ees sovercignty.
This would make atomic warfare not merely likely but ae
It would be ungracious of the writer not to repost “2
at this point
that, in his judgment, the United States also is umvilling to surrender a degree of control over its ovwm destinies sufficient to permit a world authority
to enforce its declared policy against any chalicnger.,
‘The advocates of world
government, however, believe that American public opinion can be brought in the
very near future to sce the neccssity of world government.
Even on this assump—
tion, the problem would still remain of securing a similar development in the
public opinion of other great states.
It is too much to expect such a develop-—
ment in those countrics in which no organized agitation is permitted against an
officially declared public policy and in which the declared policy is reliance
upon the principle of voluntary collaboration among the grcatest states.
Sovict Union is such a-country.
The
World government right now is therefore not a
possibility, and there will almost cortainly not in the near future be that
revolution in world opinion which alone would make it possible.
But would we want world government right now if we could have it.
Is it so
desirable, or are all alternatives sc undesirable that men of good will should
concentrate their efforts on that onc~in-a-thousand chance that they could soon
achieve world government?
‘hat prospect would that government have for achiev-
ing an equitable settlement of those international disputes which, prior to the
advent of the bomb, were felt to be so vital that the nations concerned wore
willing to settle them by resort to war or by the threat of war?
It would be
very dangerous to creatc a machinery of central force before one created a
machinery of central justice,
For a machinery of central justice to work