With many sovereign states, with no system of law enforceable among them, with each state judging its grievances and ambitions according to the dictates of its own reason or desire - conflict, sometimes leading to war, is bound to occur.

Then what explains war among states? Rousseau's answer is really that war occurs because there is nothing to prevent it.

External pressure seems to produce internal unity.

If we gather more and more data and establish more and more associations, however, we will not finally find that we know something. We will simply end up having more and more data and larger sets of correlations.

It is not true that were the Soviet Union to disappear the remaining states could easily live in peace.

Once socialism replaces capitalism, reason will determine the policies of states.

Is it capitalism or states that must be destroyed in order to get peace, or must both be abolished?