No national leader of sound mind wants a shooting war in Europe, still less a vigorous exchange of démarches between Washington and Moscow conducted over the North Pole. The problem lies with the miscalculations made by men of sound mind (see The Guns of August, and in that connection I do hope that no statesman of note takes it into his head to tour Sarajevo in an open car this summer, which of course marks the centenary of those selfsame opening rounds of The War to End All War).
cordially,