The Dilemma of the West [1955]

THE GENESIS AND purpose of this hitherto unpublished paper are somewhat obscure. Nothing in Russell’s correspondence indicates that he was preparing a broadcast on this theme for the BBC. Moreover, the typed note in the upper-left corner of the copy-text-“Not for publication”—implies that this typescript was either a draft to be reworked later or that Russell did not wish to publicize its frank, if not downright pessimistic, assessment of the international situation after the disappointing foreign ministers’ conference in Geneva. As first dictated to Edith Russell, Paper 2 singled out the Soviet Union for particular criticism (see Textual Notes). Although the final version apportioned blame for the continuing Cold War impasse much more evenly between East and West, perhaps Russell was still disinclined to circulate this revised assessment. His closing statement that “it is to the existence of nuclear weapons on both sides that we owe the preservation of peace” (7:9-11) also strikes a discordant note with its implicit validation of the strategic doctrine of deterrence.