ssion.
'Abdu'l-Baha writes:--"It may happen that at a given time warlike and
savage tribes may furiously attack the body politic with the intention of
carrying on a wholesale slaughter of its members; under such a
circumstance defense is necessary."

Hitherto the usual practice of mankind has been that if one nation
attacked another, the rest of the nations of the world remained neutral,
and accepted no responsibility in the matter unless their own interests
were directly affected or threatened. The whole burden of defense was left
to the nation attacked, however weak and helpless it might be. The
teaching of Baha'u'llah reverses this position and throws the
responsibility of defense not specially on the nation attacked, but on all
the others, individually and collectively. As the whole of mankind is one
community, an attack on any one nation is an attack on the community, and
ought to be dealt with by the community. Were this doctrine generally
recognized and acted on, any nation contemplating an aggression on another
would know in advance that it would have to reckon with the opposition not
of that other nation only, but of the whole of the rest of the world. This
knowledge alone would be sufficient to deter even the boldest and most
bellicose of nations. When a sufficiently strong league of peace-loving
nations is established war will, there, become a thing of the past. During
the period of transition from the old state of international anarchy to
the new state of international solidarity aggressive wars will still be
possible, and in these circumstances, military or other coercive action in
the cause of international justice, unity and peace may be a positive
duty. 'Abdu'l-Baha writes that in such case:--

A conquest can be a praiseworthy thing, and there are times when
war becomes the powerful basis of peace, and ruin the very means
of reconstruction. If, for example, a high-minded sovereign
marshals his troops to block the onset of the insurgent and the
aggressor, or again, if he takes the field and distinguishes
himself in a struggle to unify a divided state and people, if, in
brief, he is waging war for a righteous purpose, then this seeming
wrath is mercy itself, and this apparent tyranny the very
substance of justice and this warfare the cornerstone of peace.
Today, the task befitting great rulers is to establish universal
peace, for in this lies the freedom of al