This paper explores the nature of the relationship between the peace movement in the West and the Third World. Western countries lack, individually and collectively, the materials essential for the smooth functioning of their armament industries and require easy access to cheap supplies from well-endowed Third World countries. This appropriation is facilitated by their manipulation of the capitalist world economy which is dominated, after all, by the United States and, where possible, by their control over Third World countries, often with the collusion of their ruling elites. Liberation from this asymmetric relationship is imperative for the peoples of the Third World who are engaged in a desperate struggle for survival. However, Western countries do not tolerate such developments and, in fact, consider any nation that supports liberation struggles (especially the Soviet Union) as an enemy to be destroyed—if necessary, in a “winnable nuclear war.” Since the Soviet Union, China, and their allies support liberation movements as a matter of course, the Third World, instead of being peripheral, is actually central to the current climate of nuclear confrontation and superpower rivalry. And actually, the liberation struggles in the Third World are the corollary of the struggles of the peace movement in the West: that is, if the focus of the peace movement in the West were adjusted to stress liberty and justice as vital ingredients of peace. It is important to grasp this nexus, not only to preclude one party working against the other, but also to encourage their joining forces to work toward their goals more effectively. Clearly, this sort of cooperation will require the peace movement to enlarge its program of action. The paper concludes on this note by proposing some amendments to the current agenda of the peace movement.
