Stalin Must Have Peace

"Today’s Russian policy and performance are crucial to the world’s peace. For the Western democracies merely to be bewildered or suspicious over Stalin’s intentions can end only with our own loss of leadership in the crusade for collective security. Understanding of the logic and inevitability of Russian conduct in world affairs, without excusing or approving of it, is the first essential step toward safeguarding democratic principles and practices everywhere. Boldly but objectively Edgar Snow states Russia’s case. He contends: “Russia is a great nation and has certain vital interests which would be the same under any regime. We cannot ignore those interests merely because we dislike or don’t understand Soviet communism.” We can do nothing for the furtherance of world peace until the issues between the United States and the USSR are openly discussed. We cannot begin to grapple with the manifold problems created by conflicting ideologies until our definitions, at least, are clear and precise. Stalin Must Have Peace clarifies the present state of mind among Russians and provides us with a means of seeing them as they see themselves and as they see us. It reveals that Russia, far from wanting a major war, is incapable of rousing its people or summoning sufficient resources for a conflict which could only bring national suicide. The choice is between amicable settlement and mutual destruction. No American correspondent is better qualified than Edgar Snow to appraise the Russian point of view. Residence in the USSR and a long period of observation in the troubled centers of the world have given him an authority and insight unparalleled by any writer on foreign affairs. When the first three chapters of this book appeared originally in The Saturday Evening Post they commanded the widest national interest. Expanded and amplified in this volume, and with an additional section which offers a constructive program for collective peace, Edgar Snow’s views here become a definite contribution to our knowledge of a world in turmoil and its urgent need for workable agreement. Martin Sommers, Foreign Editor of The Saturday Evening Post, provides an eloquent Introduction in which he argues for a rational and fearless policy toward Russia."