Henry A. Kissinger '50, professor of Government, and Thomas C. Schelling, professor of Economics, have been criticized as leaders of a new group of "civilian militarists" in a pamphlet published recently by the American Friends Service Committee.
The pamphlet, written by Irving L. Horowitz, professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Hobart and William Smith colleges, charges that political leaders have transferred questions of peace and war to "experts" not directly responsible to any political group.
Kahn Also Named
Listed with Kissinger and Schelling among the "militarists" is Herman Kahn of the Hudson Institute and formerly of the Rand Corporation.
Horowitz, who discussed his views in an interview with the New York Times last week, contends that although these men use reason in making strategic calculations for a possible war, "they can't see how reason can be used to prevent conflict."
But, according to Horowitz, their position is politically unrealistic, since even if "they accumulate data and feed them into a computer and then determine that such and such date would be the most propitious time for dropping the bomb on the Soviet Union, so what? We are not going to push the button anyway."
Horowitz emphasizes that his differences with men like Kissinger and Schelling are not based on morality. Discussions between them and people who share his own views on disarmament are necessary, he believes, "to clear the air of the mystique surrounding their positions."
Read more in News
Chavez Ends UFW Boycott Of Lettuce, Grapes and Gallo