Disarmament

Abstract

The word ‘disarmament’ has a high emotional content. To some people it signifies the state of military unpreparedness which characterized the European democracies during the time when Nazi Germany was growing in strength, an attitude of appeasement and moral surrender, an attempt to substitute pious slogans for the realities of power. At the other extreme are those who think of disarmament as a simple cure for all international ills, a cure which is beyond the reach of human beings only because of the selfishness or stupidity of a few soldiers, scientists, arms-dealers, or diplomats.