Abstract
The twentieth century was an era of unprecedented horror.From the Russian Revolution through the two world wars tothe Chinese "Cultural Revolution" and the Cambodian "killingfields," millions upon millions have been oppressed, enslaved, orslaughtered by revolution, war, and the policy of their owngovernments. Although one may hope that the worse excesses ofthat age have run their course, the Soviet Union has disintegratedand Eastern Europe is rising, our time remains characterized bya pervasive apprehension that something is "out of joint." Freedom,justice, peace, prosperity, civilization itself seem far fromsecure, even in the Western liberal democracies. The widespreadunease and the unparalleled disorder of our era cry out forexplanation.
