Factors Looking to Western World Leadership

Thomas K. Finletter

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1958, vol. 318, issue 1, 138-145

Abstract: In the world of today, it is not a matter of whether the East or the West should lead. We all face one universal problem—how to live together in peace. The U. S. cannot act alone, and our most natural allies are the nations of the West. The world, however is bigger than the West, and the West cannot face the Communist empires alone. We need the friendship of the non-Communist nations of Africa and Asia. But, because of the nature of nuclear weapons, there cannot exist in the world two polarized ideological camps. A partner ship between Asia and Africa and the West can work. Freedom will not survive in Africa and Asia unless they can achieve a decent standard of living. The U. S. should lead in acting as banker for the underdeveloped countries as the organizer of the surplus wealth of the non-Communist world. In the Near East there is a great opportunity for Asia and the West to work together. The alliance could bring pressure on the Arabs and the Russians to have the Arabs give up their state of war against Israel. The greatest achievement of the alliance would be to compel all nations to join in an attack against war itself. Dis armament will never take place if negotiations are left only to Russia and the U. S. We must bring Asia, Africa, and South America into the discussions. The problems of easing world tensions and controlling war weapons are interrelated. Lead ership, then, is the responsibility of all nations working in concert to eliminate the possibility of a war of total destruc tion.—Ed.

Date: 1958
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DOI: 10.1177/000271625831800118

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