2, 3. (a) Why is the search for peace and security even more urgent today? (b) What other threats are there to life on earth?

² For thousands of years men have sought lasting peace and security, without success. But now the situation is most urgent because of the threat of nuclear war. A Canadian report warned: “There’s no such thing as a winnable nuclear war because its aftermath would be so appalling that the survivors would envy the dead.”⁠³ Showing why, astronomer Carl Sagan stated: “There are now more than 50,000 nuclear weapons, . . . enough to obliterate a million Hiroshimas.” He added: “There is little question that our global civilization would be destroyed.”⁠⁴

And just since 1945 an estimated 35,000,000 people have been killed in wars and rebellions involving more than 100 countries. In one recent year 45 nations were involved in conflicts!⁠⁷