Building a real peace will be arduous, frustrating work, and it is not surprising that some fall for shortcuts that promise to get them what they wan… - Richard Nixon

" "

Building a real peace will be arduous, frustrating work, and it is not surprising that some fall for shortcuts that promise to get them what they want quickly, painlessly, and cheaply. These shortcuts never work, and we should not expect them to work. In his heart everyone knows that the only people who get rich from the "get rich quick" books are those who write them. But just as there are countless "get rich quick" schemes there is also a wide array of seductively appealing "get peace quick" schemes. These are the myths of peace. Myths are fairy tales that people make up about things they otherwise would not understand. The ancients devised them to "explain" lightning and the changing of the seasons; today many concoct them to "explain" international relations. They are profoundly reassuring to those who otherwise would be profoundly confused by the complex dilemmas we face. But these myths are doubly dangerous: dangerous because they can distract and confound our leaders and clog decision-making channels, and also because of the chance that one of them might actually become official policy.