\ ~103- ! capable of avoiding defeat, never again will it be able to fight a major war without being exposed to vast destruction. stringent will remove this threat entirely. No international agreements however With every day that passes we are moving gradually from a position of unusual safety to a kind of earthquake zone which will be rendered livable for our urban population only by the hope and confidence that the outbreak of another war will be prevented, The change in the position of the Soviet Union will be considerable too, although it will be less spectacular. Possession of the bomb cannot return to her cities the security from annihilation which. sie" Sf Nthom at least enjoyed befo fore our discovery of atomic weapons, at It should}2however >» prove much of a relief to the Russians to gain the power of retaliation ineet and to feel, if for prestige only, that they had gone a long way toward matching our military power, if it were certain that the U.S.A. and the U.S.S5.R. would at all times act in a "spirit of unanimity and accord," as Stalin has called it, relations between the two countries would be little affected by the termination of our monopoly. In that case the two countries would have no reason to compare each other's military power, atomic or other. Russian atomic weapons would, if used at all, supplement our own and merely serve to make the threat of UNO sanctions against third countries, such as Germany or Japan, morc effective. This is what people must have in mind when they speak of the Russians and ourselves agreeing to put our atomic povrer into the service of world peace. Unfortunately, the two peoples do not and cannot fecl sure that accord between then will prevail at all times. Constant efforts will be required if the two countries are to view each other's possession of this lethal weapon with anything like a spirit of equanimity. Russian atomic power is bound to have profound effects on American psychology. What they will be cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty since nothing like it has faced this country before. Possibly the change in outlook and senti- ment will not occur immediately, particularly if in the light of friendly relations with the Sovict Union the threat should seem far-off. One need, however,