The Problem Stated: Forms of Conflict (1962)

International life is inevitably a dynamic condition of unrelenting competitionCompetition among nations for trade and commerce, for prestige and status, and for the winning of allegiances and the promotion of ideologies. Deliberate attempts to outmaneuvre and to defeat in constant battle for position, prestige, and powerPower are a normal feature of relations among states. A condition of stable peaceful relations is not likely to be an undisturbed day-by-day international relationship, nor one in which there is general acceptance of any existing international structure. Competition, even in a theoretically perfect condition of peaceful relationships, would tend to be pushed at least to the limits beyond which peace would be destroyed. Such aggressive competitionCompetition follows automatically from the existence of independent and sovereign statesSovereign state.