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

States in the world are like individuals in the state of nature. They are neither perfectly good nor are they controlled by law.

War may achieve a redistribution of resources, but labor, not war, creates wealth.

War most often promotes the internal unity of each state involved. The state plagued by internal strife may then, instead of waiting for the accidental attack, seek the war that will bring internal peace.

The most important causes of political arrangements and acts are found in the nature and behavior of man.

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

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