"The most profound danger to world peace in the coming years will stem not from the irrational acts of states or individuals but from the legitimate demands of the world's dispossessed. Of these poor and disenfranchised, the majority live a marginal existence in equatorial climates. Global warming, not of their making, but originating with the wealthy few, will affect their fragile ecologies most. Their situation will be desperate and manifestly unjust. It cannot be expected, therefore that in all cases they will be content to await the beneficence of the rich. If then, we permit the devastating power of modern weaponry to spread through this combustible human landscape, we invite a conflagration that can engulf both rich and poor. The only hope for the future lies in co-operative international action, legitimized by democracy. It is time to turn our backs on the unilateral search for security, in which we seek to shelter behind walls.
"To avoid a tragic outcome, we shall be forced to do what we should have done previously. That is to recognize abroad what we have long recognized domestically : the right of all to food, shelter education and freedom of expression. This is a revolution in thinking that is already under way. What is lacking is a sense of urgency.
"Unless we recognize that the future of each depends on the goodwill of all, the coming years will bring escalating conflict. One need not be a rocket scientist to see that. However the recognition that science has thrived on change could persuade us to behave more like rocket scientists. We might even come to realize that idealism is today the highest form of realism." |
