‘ —109— expansion. That would close the door to all efforts at conciliation and at sate isfaction of reasonable demands the Russians way make, Wise statesmanship will have to seek a mode of conduct which will neither tempt the Soviet government to overstep the limits we can in safety and decency concede nor provoke actions taken out of sheer resentment or suspicion of our intentions. As we turn to the con- sideration of other lines of defense it should be particularly emphasized that their usefulness may be nullified if they disturb Soviet-American relations. \z, The second line of defense i. not stricthy:of aAoviet-American character. It consists of international agreements and control. We are already committed to this Line; the UNC is embarked on efforts to eliminate-—-or to reduce-—-the dangers of atomic weapons, Whatever success is achieved in this respect will benefit this country and the Soviet Union as it will all other members of the Organiza~ tion. If little is said about this aspect of our problem here, it is because the general treatment of the subject of international control in the last chapter will indicate what protection the two countries may expect from this Line of defense. !¢ It should, however, be mentioned here once more that the success of the UNO must depend primarily upon the Russians and ourselves; the world is looking to Washington and Moscow with the hope that they will agree to inter national rules and machinery removing the dangers of dual possession of atomic power, . In view of what has been said about the first line of defonse, it is worth repeating that attempts to establish international controls might defcat theamselves if they lec to new conflict between ourselves and the Soviet Union. example will suffice to demonstrate what this implies, One It may be truc, theorct- ically, that the removal of the veto rights of the great powers would pave the way for more reliable safeguards against atomic attack. But the Soviet Union has good reasons for believing that the veto constitutes an essential element of vo. ~ See below Chapter V. 4