Nobel’s philosophy was – and was not – of his age,
La Belle Époque, when nations stood to rise
From both cooperative trade and arbitrage,
From both communication and surprise.
Nationalism flourished, while proud empires soared.
Lambs laid down while restless lions roared.
Men – thousands – died in battles for influence’s sake,
Their wasted blood a scourge no peace could break.
Nobel, amidst the ‘global’ movement’s dawn,
Rejected claims for disarmament and arbitration,
Arguing it was an unrealistic goal to bond
Aggressors to each other by solicitation.
Peace could be reached, he said, through collective securities:
Cooperative nations working to fight and punish its enemies.
June Edvenson 