WAR
ever small, which possesses an army of its own. No
community, however large, which does not possess an
army is eligible. In practice and by implication the League
defines a nation as *a society organized for war/ And
effectively this is the only definition of a nation that
applies to all the existing members of the class. Every
other definition, in terms of race, of colour, of language,
of culture and even of simple topography, is proved to
be inadequate by the existence of exceptions. Formally
and in fact, the League of Nations is a league of societies
organized for war.
The militarism which is built into the very definition of
the League finds expression in the means whereby, under
its present constitution, it is proposed to secure peace.
The framers of the League Covenant did what many of
the framers of the American Constitution desired to do,
but were fortunately dissuaded by Alexander Hamilton
from doing: they inserted a clause decreeing first economic
and then military sanctions against an * aggressor/
Sanctions are objectionable for exactly the same reasons as
war is objectionable. Military sanctions are war. Economic
sanctions, if applied with vigour, must inevitably lead to
war-like reactions on the part of the nation to which they
are applied, and these war-like reactions can only be
countered by military sanctions. Sanctionists call their
brand of war by high-sounding names. We must not
allow ourselves to be deceived by mere words. In the
actual circumstances of the present day, 'collective security*
means a system of military alliances opposed to another
system of military alliances. The first system calls itself
the League; the second is nominated in advance cthe
Aggressor/
Once war has broken out, nations will consult their own
interests whether to fight or remain neutral; they will not
permit any international agreement to dictate their course
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