The Family of Nations
Government of Great Britain, for example, actually
•works for the good of the people of France and
Germany. And in very general terms it can be said
that even the maintenance of order within its borders
by any State is an advantage to the peoples outside
those borders. It is indeed natural to any modern
State to help other States. It is a survival from the
past, if any State to-day prepares war against any
other.
The Gospel of War
But of the two aspects of the State in its external
relations—that of warlike rivalry and that of civilized
co-operation—clearly the warlike aspect is still
dominant. Most politicians have been to school at
an earlier time, when the new ideas had not reached
the text-books; and most men and women do not
think at all of their rektion to foreigners, thereby
leaving their minds empty to the seven devils of
newspaper stunts and political rhetoric. Clearly, if
there is a family of nations it is not a happy family.
If any members of the family love one another the
chief reason seems to be that they agree to hate some
third. If there is no war actually going on it seems to
be chiefly because possible enemies are not yet fully
prepared; for what is called "peace** is nowadays
used as an opportunity for accumulating material for
war. The unity of each nation is thus attained by a
system which deliberately destroys any effort at unity
across frontiers. The common good of each nation
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