The New Criterion

We have often had occasion to cite the famous observation of the Roman military historian Flavius Vegetius that si vis pacem, para bellum—“If you want peace, prepare for war.” Sage advice, that, even if it is regularly ignored whenever the forces of smugness and sentimentality triumph over the counsels of prudence. Just ask Neville Chamberlain. Would that Vegetius’s observation were inscribed on the lintels of our schools and universities. Instead, we have “Peace Studies,” a phrase that names not just an academic pseudo-discipline, but a political movement, a cause around which the politically correct rally in grade schools (yes, really), high schools, colleges, and all manner of internationalist organizations the world over. How bad is it? The journalist Bruce Bawer provides the low-down in an excellent if also depressing essay on the peace studies “racket”—and “racket” is de ...

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