How To Win the Peace

Abstract

sary to prepare for peace as to prepare for war, that it takes a longer time and is a far more complicated process. But there is no denying that we are in some danger of mental fatigue because so many plans have been prepared and put before us. Sometimes I am reminded of a saying of an old Norwegian doctor who stated that the modern medical specialist has lost his patient among his organs. Nobody takes care of the patient because there are too many specialists. We are at present more fortunate than nations were after the last war, because peace problems have been brought under distussion in practically every democratic country and responsible organizations have been created for the study of postwar problems, because we have realized that peacemaking must start even before the war is brought to an end if we are to be able to go through an organic process leading from war conditions to peace conditions without too many difficulties. But we are in some danger of believing that everything is well with the world because we have a number of documents-the Atlantic Charter, the United Nations Declaration, the Moscow Protocols, and other documents of great historical interest and political importance. But they will have political importance only if we bear in mind that those documents do not give us anything; they hold out certain hopes and encouragements, but they are very noncommittal. In practical political life the application of principles means more than the enunciation of principles, and even the most beautiful document will have political meaning only if it is translated into political action. We are in some danger of falling to sleep on beautiful speeches and half-promises that have been given by leaders of nations.