The peace movement has suffered a major setback. The attempt to spread the idea that detente should be prior to security has not succeeded. The modernization of NATO was approved by European parliaments, within a climate marked by the revival of the Cold War. Does the lack of interest in a “reasonable agreement” between the two superpowers mean a revival of pro-war sentiment? A positive answer to this question would be a mistake. In a polemic against the “E.P. Thompson school (...) of disarmers,” an editorial in The Economist noted that “all in all, this first round of the war for peace will probably be won by those who think the balance of terror is less terrifying than an imbalance of terror.”. (shrink)