Evening star., 1945-08-08
Our Atomic Future

Oo iilAAilite are the potentlal1tleS OF
the atomic bomb, and so incapable
is the human mind of comprehend
ing even its immediate significance,
that any attempt to envision the
world OF the future borders on sheer
presumption. Nevertheless, now that
we have fathomed the secrets of
creation and have used our new
knowledge to produce a military
weapon which, though stiH in its
infancy, can devastate whole cities
with a single blast, it Is imperative
that I'VE shake of old habits of
thought and try to understand some
Of the implications of discovery
which is certain to destroy many of
the assumptions which have served
to guide us in the past.
Until few days ago, for instance,
most of us thought that a real start
had been made toward solving the
problem of international security.
The nations which wanted peace
were going to band together and pool
their resources so that an act of
aggression, if another Hitler should
rise among us, could be crushed by
bringing superior force to bear
against him. Is this still a valid
assumption, or are it's ashes to be
found among the ruins of Hiro-
Shima?
The atomic bomb as we know it
is in a primitive stage. For pur-
poses of illustration, it might be
compared to the crude airplane
which the Wright brothers kept aloft
for a few seconds at Kitty Hawk
some 40 years ago. What will an
other 40 years bring? Will not the
atomic bomb of that time be vastly
improved weapon, just as the mill
tary plane of today is an almost
unbelievable improvement over its
prototype? And if that be true, as
it certainly is, what purpose is there
in arguing over the number of troops
to be allocated to the Security
Council, or in debating the question
whether our delegate on the council
should obtain the consent of Con-
gress before committing the armed
forces of the United States?
We must not delude ourselves in
these matters, for the fact is that
in the atomic world of the future,
so far as we can evaluate it now,
there will be no defense against
aggression. A mere superiority of
force or numbers will not suffice
to keep the peace. For few years
We may be able to withhold the
secrets of the atomic bomb. But we
may be sure that other nations will
discover them, and in time they will
be known to all. When that day
comes, the nature of the weapon
being what it is, any one of dozen
countries, by resort to surprise at
tack, may aspire to rule the world.
There will be no defense against such
an aggressor except to attack him
first, snd that is something which
the democratic states will not be
willing to do.
From these premises-and they are
on the conservative rather than the
exaggerated side-there are at least
two obvious conclusions to be drawn.
The first Is that, in the future, any
totalitarian State-in which the
power to choose between war and
peace lies with one man or a small
group Of men-will be a constant,
deadly menace to the rest of the
world. The second is that we can
no longer hope to muddle through
by overcoming force with force. If
the future holds promise of nothing
better than competition in atomic
bombing the human race is doomed.
We must prevent another war by
organizing to eliminate the incen-
tives for war. Otherwise, this fan
tastic force which we have pried
loose from the atom will destroy all
of us.