The Causes of War

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

The late British military historian and strategist B.H. Liddell-Hart wrote something that I think I am becoming more inclined to believe with every passing year. He wrote:

“I used to think that the causes of war were predominantly economic. I came to think that they were more psychological. I am now coming to think that they are decisively “personal,” arising from the defects and ambitions of those who have the power to influence the currents of nations.”

I just finished reading David Halberstam’s classic work on the men of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations leading up to and during the Vietnam War and I can see much truth to what Liddell-Hart wrote, especially in light of the way the current American President conducts foreign policy and puts his imprint on a national security strategy that echoes the Cold War even as it talks about long standing allies as rivals.

I could write more about this but it is late and I do need to read the full text of the new Trump National Security Strategy before I say more.

So until tomorrow,

Peace

Padre Steve+