The states in world politics begin to fashion their foreign policies on a new set of premises, one that defines national interest in terms of what is best for the world system as a whole. By supplanting competitive self-seeking with cooperative self-seeking, and by renouncing the "everyone for himself" principle in world affairs, states can begin to move away from the social-Darwinian ethic that would otherwise assure our oblivion. By building upon the understanding that it is in each state's best interests to develop foreign policy from a systemic vantage point, and by defining national interests in terms of strategies that secure and sustain the entire system of states, our national leaders can begin to match the awesome agenda of world order reform with effective strategies of response. A communion based on fear and dread, its mighty efforts at producing increasingly destructive weapons have occasioned a deep desolation of the human spirit.