In 1947, the dust of World War II had barely settled, yet the shadow of the Cold War was already lengthening. The United States and the Soviet Union were beginning a frantic arms race. Einstein, watching the technology he helped theorize become a tool for potential global extinction, abandoned the "ivory tower" of academia to become an activist.
Einstein argued that in an age of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the concept of absolute national sovereignty was a death sentence. He famously stated that "as long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable." He believed that the only way to prevent total annihilation was through the establishment of a capable of settling disputes between nations via legal and binding arbitration. 2. The Psychology of Fear In 1947, the dust of World War II