212
simple as that.
If
the United States were
by the wave of a magic wand, Russia would no longer have
an
ponent
in
her class. In this sense, she would reign supreme over
world. But does this mean that she would be able to
impose
every wish on China, India, or Europe, without encountering
ance? Nobody knows. The absence of a military rival is not
equivalent of omnipotence.
If
all the countries of the world
Communist, conflicts between Communist countries would
possible. Such speculations aside, the major fact of the present
juncture is that the Soviet Union's hostility to capitalism
is
tinguishable from her hostility to the only power mighty
oppose her: the United States. And the impossibility of a
or even a relatively definitive settlement of the
rivalry is neither more nor less evident under Khrushchev
was under Stalin. Such a settlement is excluded for four basic
the clash of ideologies prevents the two Great Powers from
accepting each other or legitimizing the status quo; the division
Europe constitutes a permanent cause of insecurity; the
revolt in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East works to the
of the Soviets (even when they play no role
in
it) and
th"p<lt,_
isolate the white minority of Europe and America; and finally,
technological weapons race seems to rule out any stabilization
limitation of armaments.
Since a global settlement is excluded, the Soviet Union
and
United States must choose between total war and the cold war.
ing the past twelve years their choice has gone clearly and
to the latter. The cold war is a form of coexistence. Rhetorical
is laid on the term when the desire is to reject total war publicly
solemnly, but during the Korean war the effort to limit
also implied the rejection of total war. Mr. Khrushchev's
ambitions do not prevent this total non-war or coexistence.
they prevent, now as in the past, is a formal
terms of this mutual and hostile tolerance.
*
* *
Is this more or less bellicose coexistence jeopardized by
launching of Splrtnik, which symbolizes the progress of Soviet
and industry and suggests a probable Russian superiority in
the
of ballistic weapons? Is the West threatened with disaster
if
