And even if it be granted that the influence of diplomacy has been in the main for peace rather than for war, we know that diplomacy has been in use for centuries, that its resources are well understood, and that they have all been tried out many times; and therefore we ought to realize clearly that diplomacy cannot introduce any new force into international politics now, or exert, an influence for peace that will be more potent in the future than the influence that it has exerted in the past.
These considerations seem to show that we cannot reasonably expect civilization to divert nations from the path they have followed hitherto.
Can commerce impart the external force necessary to divert nations from that path?
Since commerce bears exactly the same relation to nations now as in times past, and since it is an agency within mankind itself, it is difficult to see how it can act as an external force, or cause an external force to be applied.

Of course, commercial interests are often opposed to national interests, and improvements in speed and sureness of communication and transportation increase the size and power of commercial organizations.

But the same factors increase the power of governments and the solidarity of nations.

At no time in the past has there been more national feeling in nations than now.

Even the loosely held provinces of China are forming a Chinese nation.