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"after World War I, it took just about 10 years for the 'urge for national grandeur' to be replaced by 'a deep longing simply to be left in peace.'"

Yes. And Britain had neither national grandeur nor peace. Even worse, her abandonment of power left the world vulnerable to the power-hungry predators of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and the Soviet Union.

Britain and the rest of the world paid a heavy price for the foolishness of her anti-patriotic Leftists and those foolish enough to follow them.

"another important cause was the waning of confidence on the part of liberal British elites, whose pacifism evolved into anti-patriotism."

And history repeats itself in contemporary America.

The Left's misguided commitment to pacifism and internationalism, which they myopically equate to high morality, has passed the point of anti-patriotism and evolved into a hatred of America that invites even the most hideous alternatives as preference.

"Margot Asquith, one of England's leading liberal lights, wrote...'There is only one way of preserving peace in the world, and getting rid of your enemy, and that is to come to some sort of agreement with him. . . . The greatest enemy of mankind today is hate.'"

And Margot's words could not have been more incorrect--or more stupid.

The British--following the stupid Neville Chamberlain--tried to come to some sort of agreement with Hitler. Note the results.

In fact, the greatest enemy of mankind is denial.

And the only way of preserving peace in the world, and getting rid of your enemy, is deterrence.

The holocaust that was World War II is a grim mocker of Margot and the stupidity of her words and of Chamberlaine and the ineptitude of his leadership.

Deterrence ended the Cold War, prevented a nuclear holocaust that would have dwarfed the horrors of World War II, and averted a global replay of the horrifying Peloponnesian War.

"These elites could see evil only at home."

Just like the Leftist morons of today.

They see evil only in America.

They make excuses for the terrorists, the beheadings, murderous totalitarian regimes, the thugocracies that dominate the United Nations.

"The French intellectual Simone de Beauvoir did not believe that Germany was a 'threat to peace,' but instead worried that the 'panic that the Right was spreading' would drag France, Britain, and the rest of Europe into war."

Yes. And wasn't Simone stupid--and dead wrong. However, the truly stupid were the people dumb enough to believe her.

"Stafford Cripps, a liberal Labor member of Parliament, feared not Hitler, but Churchill."

And Staffor Cripps has many intellectual descendants in America and Europe today.

There will always be sociopaths and other assorted mental cases eager to mislead and exploit the world.

There will always be stupid people dumb enough to follow them.

The greatest danger to the world--contrary to Margot Asquith's idiotic pronouncement--is denial. That is what interferes with the judgment of the intelligent, reasonable, and benevolent people of the world--the vast majority--and renders them susceptible to the evil designs of predators and sociopaths and the mindlessness of the stupid.