From The Editor

It has been called "the biggest mistake the West has made since World War II." The Russians hate it. Canadians ought to. There is still a small chance that it may not go through, because the U.S. Congress may look closely at the bill and say no. We refer, of course, to the expansion of NATO, which Eastern Europeans have generally been treating as an exclusive, posh dinner party to which only a few of the formerly poor, formerly socialist countries have been invited. In this issue, Franklyn Griffiths explains why it's bad for Canada, and Sergei Rogov explains why it's bad for Russia. Can we stop it? It's worth a try. European peace activists are still resisting - and so can we.

In August three eminent peace researchers participated in several panel discussions in Toronto: sometimes speaking to visiting members of the American Sociological Association, and once to the public. In this issue, we present excerpts from their presentations. Dietrich Fischer focuses on war as a system, and on the challenge of changing to a "peace system." Along similar lines, Anatol Rapoport sees war as a social institution with a life of its own. He points out how game theory (especially the study of "non-zero-sum games") show us the folly of pursuing a "rational" process of decision-making. (If everyone pursues our individual self-interest, we will all be worse off than if we pursue our collective self-interest.) Finally, Gene Sharp points out the value of developing non-violent ways of struggling for what we think we must not compromise.

In this issue you will also find: David Bell's appraisal of the progress toward environmental sustainability five years after the Rio summit; David Wurfel's analysis of the tangled problems in Cambodia; and a review essay by Carl Jacobsen discussing the application of peaceful means of conflict resolution to some of the troubled spots of the world.

In the newsworthy section, we view some of the truths that are finally coming to light about the pollution produced (knowingly) by the nuclear industry and the weapons-makers over the years. (Yes, just as you suspected, they were releasing to the environment, while stoutly denying it all along.)

We have Hanna Newcombe's review of two books by a dedicated Canadian peace researcher, M.V. Naidu.

And finally, we want to remind you to check our internet site: www.peacemagazine.org