It is my conviction that if there had been anything in the nature of a North Atlantic Treaty in the World before 1939, there would have been no second world war. It has been described as "the unnecessary war". Surely a third world war, immensely more devastating, more agonizing than its predecessors, is not only the unnecessary, it is the avoidable war. Not only can we avoid it; we must avoid it. It is in this hope that many European countries have abandoned their historic neutrality; that is why the United States of America have abandoned their historic isolationism from European affairs; that is why all like-minded nations are determined that never again shall an aggressor be given a chance - as Hitler was - of swallowing us one by one.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It is my conviction that if there had been anything in the nature of a North Atlantic Treaty in the World before 1939, there would have been no second world war. It has been described as "the unnecessary war". Surely a third world war, immensely more devastating, more agonizing than its predecessors, is not only the unnecessary, it is the avoidable war. Not only can we avoid it; we must avoid it. It is in this hope that many European countries have abandoned their historic neutrality; that is why the United States of America have abandoned their historic isolationism from European affairs; that is why all like-minded nations are determined that never again shall an aggressor be given a chance - as Hitler was - of swallowing us one by one." in the context of "Hastings Ismay, Radio talk on Belgian radio, 13 November 1953" to mean that wisdom is timeless.