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210 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. ix (1940)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0210 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD ON APRIL 12 and 13, 1940 The American Academy held its Forty-fourth An- nual Meeting. For two days distinguished members of the Academy and specially invited guests earnestly discussed the topic The United States and Durable Peace. The addresses given on that occasion, supplemented by several solicited contribu- tions, appear in the following pages. The tempo of the march of events has rapidly increased since these addresses were delivered three whole months ago. In the light of current developments some of the statements in this volume may appear absurd and the predictions they occa- sionally contain, rash. This is no criticism of their authors, but proof of the diffi- culty of peering into the future of a convulsed world. As the weeks pass it is increasingly difficult for any of us to concentrate our attention on the organization of a postwar world. A British publicist, Mr. Wick- ham Steed, has presented the issue by calling attention to the difference between the aim of war, which is the defeat of the enemy, and war aims, which are those ultimate purposes for which a war is being waged. In the midst of a conflict the aim of war is almost certain to absorb us so fully that war aims may be forgotten. Indeed, there is a very real danger that in endeavoring to win the war we may lessen our capacity to face wisely the task of organizing peace. The eco- nomic and political procedures necessary for war are the antitheses of those essential for a wise peace, and wartime psychology, roused for the defeat of the enemy, will not quickly alter when the conflict ends. These observations seem to imply that the United States is a belligerent. As these lines are written, the people of the United States are nonbelligerent. We are not neutral, and have not been. Our political and material interests and our whole outlook on life cause us to sympathize with France and Great Britain. At the moment there is developing a powerful campaign in their favor, and we are pre- paring to make our resources available to them. A growing number are demanding that we declare war on Germany and openly enter the conflict. Under such conditions it is increasingly difficult to consider calmly those politi- cal and economic adjustments which are imperative if future wars are to be avoided. There is no one problem of modern times that transcends this in significance; yet as the weeks pass it will be easier and easier to abandon ourselves to a prosecution of war activities or at least to preparations for national defense, and to forget war aims. For years the isolationists have dominated our policies and internationalists have been ridiculed. Just now some who formerly favored national isolation are calling themselves insulationists, but the swift rush of events is rapidly making even that position untenable. The United States is not and cannot be either iso- lated or insulated. Whether our country becomes an active belligerent or not, there is no way of evading our deep involvement in the cataclysm into which the world has been plunged. Our relationship to the rest of the world and our interest in a durable peace were the facts considered at the Academy meeting in April. To the papers then presented there have been added contributions by Alejandro E. Bunge, Gustav Cassel, Lord Cecil, Luigi Einaudi, and Manuel Gamio. It is the earnest hope of the Academy that this volume will in a significant measure con- tribute to the development of a public opinion that will facilitate enduring peace when war ends. ERNEST MINOR PATTERSON ix

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