The Wilmington morning star., 1945-09-14
Today and Tomorrow
BY WALTER LIPPMANN

unmistakable amidst all the complications and
difficulties of the rehabilitation and the paci-
fication in the wake of so great war.
Never before have the young men of any
American generation had spread out before
them such a prospect of a long peace within
which there is so much they can do that is
useful and fascinating. There never was q
he tier time than this to be an American and
to be young nor more interesting one in
which to be alive. The time to come is pecu.
liarlv their own because they have themselves
earned it and done so much to make it pos.
sible They are,not merely the heirs of strong
er and more reselute forefathers but they are,
once again. generation OF explorers, dlscov'
erers, and pioneers, who can become the
founders of good and enduring things. The
opportunity can, of course, be stupidity and
lazily missed. But if it is used, as it can
be, there is no reason to doubt that this cycle
of twentieth century wars is over, and that
Americans have at their disposal all that they
need in order to take foremost part in
inaugurating an age that mankind Will long
remember gratefully.
Great works are not for the faint-hearted
who doubt themselves Yet only with that
humility which opens mems minds to wisdom,
can greatness be understood. We have much
that we must learn to understand. When
nation rises as suddenly as we have risen
in the world it needs above all to measure
its power in the scheme of things. For it is
easier to develop great power than it is to
know how to use it well. Wisdom always lags
behind power, and for the newcomer which
is what we are. the lag is bound to be greater
than in an old established state where the
exercise Of world power is a matter of long
experience and settled habit
Even more than the Soviet Union, which is
now resurnirg its connection with Russias
past, the United States is the newest world
power We have never been world power
before, and we might say that in relation to
the world we are just now at the end OF our
colonial experience and at the beginning OF
the time when all great affairs are as matter
of course American affairs. For isolationism,
as it has persisted in our day, is in essence
the view of the colonial who feels that the
great affairs of history are not for the likes
Of him, and that he must live in world
which is ruled mysteriously from afar by
than he is.
An awareness that the great power we now
possess is newly acquired is the best antldote
we can carry about with us against our moral
and political immaturity There is no more
difficult art than to exercise great power well:
all the serious military, diplomatic, and eco
nomic decisions we have now to take will
depend on how correctly we measure our
power how truly we see its possibilities with
in its limitations. That is what Germany and
Japan which also rose suddenly, did not do;
those two mighty empires are in ruins because
their leaders and their people misjudged their
newly acquired power, and SO nisusSd it.
Our own position in the world is fully recog-
nized, and our real interests are such that
they need never be hidden. But there are
many pitfalls for a nation which is not yet
accustomed to the exercise of great power. We
can be honest with ourselves, then, and recog-
nize that nothing is so tempting as to over
estimate ones own influence and to under
estimate ones own responsibilities, to be more
interested in the rights than in the duties of
a powerful state, and like so many of the
newly rich and Just arrived to be jealousy
fearful of losing privileges which, in fact, can
in the long run be retained only by using
them WELL Nothing is easier, too, than to
dissipate influence by exerting it for trivial
or private ends, or to forget that power is
not given once and forever but that it has to
be replenished continually by the effort which
created it in the first place The wisdom which
may make great powers beneficient can be
found only with humility, and also the good
manners and courtesy of the soul which alone
can make great power acceptable to others
Great as it is, American power is limited
Within its limits, it will be greater or less
depending on the ends for which it is used.
II u.s. LOT example, dLOSeneT DeyOnQ the uII1CS
of any power we possess to dictate to any
one of our allies, even the smallest how it
must organize its social and economic order.
We can preserve own order if we improve
that it produces progressively that greater
freedom and plenty which we believe it can
produce. BY proving the results, not by de-
claiming generalities and making threats, we
can offer example which others may wish
to follow if and as they have the means to do
so.
In regard to our military power, including
the atomic bomb, we must have no illusions
whatsoever. 1t is sufficient, if properly main
tanned, to make the United States invulnerable
to conquest by any other nation But no mill
tary power we can conceivably muster can
keep us secure if we dissolve our alliances,
if we provoke or permit the other great states
to combine against us. Friendly and reliable
neighbors on both sides of our ocean frontiers
are indispensable to our security and to our
peace of mind. 1t would be as childish as it
is chur]ish to think that because of the atomic
bomb, or the prodigious size of our industry,
we can now dismiss the friends with whom
we fought the good fight side by side.
Nor must we fall into the trap OF imagining
that the devastating power we brought to bear
upon our enemies can be used to enforce
cur arguments with our allies. Our influence
is great, perhaps leading but it is not com.
mensurate with the alleged fact that We pos
sess weapon which could, theoretically, kill
several hundred thousand people without no.
tice and at one blow. If we are Intelligent, we
shall never entertain such naonstrous delu-
sion, We could no more use sucn weapon IN