James Reston wrote recently, “It is a time of strong passions and weak reason.” While one can hardly say anything but touché, could not the same be said of the whole Age of Conflict since 1914? The Time of Troubles which began with the outbreak of what was known before 1939 as the Great War has been characterized by many conflicts and crises, triumphs and tragedies. Vietnam, Nigeria, the Middle East, racial strife in America and elsewhere around the globe all are part of the pattern of this painful epoch of transition. Instead of putting these and other leading issues of the day in historical perspective, all too many leaders in this country have outdone the under-thirty set in irrationality.