You are about to return to Rome, as this is written, for the most decisive session of the Second Vatican Council. Schema XIII on the Church in the Modern World is from a pastoral viewpoint, of such unique importance that one may believe the whole work of the Council stands or falls with it. You who have listened with patience to so many opinions will surely bear charitably with yet one more expression of Christian concern. It is written not in order to defend a merely partisan view, but to insure that the great work done by the previous sessions is not prejudiced by any ambiguity or hesitation in confronting one of the most crucial problems of our time.

The classic conflict in society is between liberty on one hand and order on the other. The conflict has been made more acute by the challenges we face in the contemporary world, whether the challenge be that of automation, the explosion of the new nations, or the problems associated with national defense in the nuclear age.

I wish to discuss some of the dilemmas that we face in military strategy, where—just as in the classic conflict between order and freedom—we are forced to choose between conflicting and sometimes incompatible objectives. The problem in both cases is to achieve the proper balance between desirable ends. It is my hope that by examining some of these hard choices, it will be possible to provide some insight into the considerations that enter into the development of national security policy.