World Faces New Challenges

New Challenges were to be faced as the world changed. The closing of a story are usually those in which the author causes all things to fall into place. Puzzling questions are answered when villains are brought to justice and the good people receive the recognition due them. At long last the hero and his girl are married and they live happily ever after. We wish that we could provide an equally neat and happy ending.

A number of encouraging events are described which tells how colonial peoples achieved independence after World War II and set about improving ways of living. The conflicts between new nations, the rise of anti-Western feeling and crises which have endangered world peace. Finally, how new nations have developed in Africa with dramatic speed and some of the problems these nations must solve.

There is no simple happy ending. Nations which co-operated to win World War II became rivals afterwards. As a result, ours became a divided world. The United States and its allies regard Soviet Russia and Communist China with suspicion and are determined to prevent further Communist expansion. Co-operation among the free world nations, however, is less close than in the 1950’s and a growing number of nations are uncommitted. To strike a happier note, aid from the United States and other sources and increasing economic co-operation have enabled nations in western Europe to surpass pre-war production levels. Progress in science, invention and greatly increased production carry the promise of a longer and better life for people everywhere. The very achievements which spell human happiness also make possible a war of total destruction.