(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
The nuclear issue became more and more important in Orientering in the years ahead towards 1958. The newspaper was active in its coverage and not least ahead of its time. What was to become a popular movement was one of Orienterings martial arts from early on.
It is useless to philosophize on what the world would look like today if the American scientists and military technicians had not achieved the lead that made nuclear bombs release over the defenseless cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 13 years ago. The essential thing in the long run was not that hundreds of thousands of Japanese were killed or permanently harmed under terrorist organs that still have no imagination to imagine, or that the war in the East was ended sooner than would otherwise be possible. After all, the outcome was assured.
Essentially, the US lead in the production of weapons of destruction laid the foundation for the special form of powerpolitics that the two great powers, lively supported by smaller countries, have driven after the Second World War. The war had become total also in the sense that politicians were increasingly being forced to think "strategically". Being amateurs in this as in other disciplines, it relentlessly led them to become dependent on so-called military experts, that is, the perceptions and thinking of professional warriors, and uncontrolled reports by the secret intelligence. The unified and hysterical mentality of the war glowed further under the ashes and determined the main reactions. Often, the generals themselves switched to politics, as they were naturally pushed forward at a time when power politics increasingly meant the use of, or threat of, the use of raw military power. Political instruments increasingly came into the background.
Perhaps the most dangerous and tragic example is Eisenhower, a well-meaning and human-appealing general who, every time he is driven up the wall in a political conflict, has only one answer: troops, planes, naval forces. Whether in Little Rock or the Formosa Strait, he falls back at the critical moment on the only means he knows, the purely military. It's no coincidence that he found such a bigotry and self-righteous tool as Foster Dulles.
A complete one the fusion of politics and military activity took place gradually, both in the west and the east. As was the case during the Spanish Civil War, it was not unwelcome for the great powers to measure their new fighter jets and other weapons against each other in "small wars" in Korea, Viet Nam, Indonesia and the Middle East.
Therefore, it is not correct to speak of a period of cold war. War er not dead after World War II; it lives and thrives and spreads like rot in wooden buildings.
War er not dead after World War II; it lives and thrives and spreads like rot in wooden buildings.
Now is the self the hectic and unfortunately far too successful race to create more effective weapons of destruction in the process of dismantling this primitive policy of power from within. As it became clear that the Soviets had also followed suit, and in some technical areas were even ahead of the West, and when scientists in increasing numbers could announce that now the two great powers were alone with nuclear weapons enough to wipe out all life on Earth, the policy of power has been replaced by anxiety-policy. Now both parties are playing in their bluff against the opponent's fear of letting go great war loose. Each time we are a little closer to the abyss.
Let it be quite clear: at the moment there is not much to suggest that reason is making its way into this wild race. When the Soviets announced six months ago that they had stopped the test explosions with atomic bombs and were determined to stop for good, they certainly expected that the United States and Britain would be forced by the moral pressure in the world to strike. Instead, the two countries completed their extended pilot program and only offered to retire for one to one year. In the atmosphere of this suspicion, this modest but undoubtedly encouraging offer was not enough for the Soviets, who have now taken the tests again. The intention is presumably to exert new pressure to move forward with the issue of a complete halt. But the development of desperate anxiety reactions has now run at such a speed that it is more than doubtful whether it seems so. We have now come so far that a substantial indulgence, an admission that from a military point of view can even reconcile almost suicidal, soon presents itself as the only opportunity to turn the tide.
And it's urgent. The "nuclear club" will soon have new members. Among them is apparently France (with a general as dictator). The United Arab Republic (also with a military dictator) and China (the only country in the world with such a large population and extent that it still seems to be floating in the illusion that it can survive a full nuclear war). Hammarskjøld has been maneuvered into the position that he, on behalf of the UN, is raging around and putting out small fires while the big pyromaniacs collect more fuel.
Anxiety politics is the logical consequence of military power politics, but the way back is even more difficult.
Evang is a former Minister of Health in Norway.
This column is from the forerunner of New Age Orientering (1953-1975) and
edited by Line Fausko
