ABSTRACT
Niccolo Machiavelli explains the relation of human nature to war and peace with such exactitude that we are hard put to find fault. Because individuals are by nature capable of calculating what is in their best interest, appalled at their actual, natural situation, they contrive a plan for survival. Peace is the means of preserving one whose nature is war, whether impulsive or calculated to satisfy a passion. As early as 1640, Thomas Hobbes wrote in the Elements of Law, "Men considered in mere nature, ought to admit among themselves equality." Human nature is never eliminated by the contrivances of civilization, although some must take responsibility for restraining it because human beings cannot survive in their natural state. War is far stronger because it expresses nature. Therefore war regains all its rights when the state fails in its purpose, when it no longer guards the safety of those who created only that they might live in peace.
