1984

           Whatismoreremarkableisthatallthreepowersalreadypossess,intheatomicbomb,aweaponfarmorepowerfulthananythattheirpresentresearchesarelikelytodiscover. AlthoughtheParty,accordingtoitshabit,claimstheinventionforitself,atomicbombsfirstappearedasearlyasthenineteen-forties,andwerefirstusedonalargescaleabouttenyearslater. Atthattimesomehundredsofbombsweredroppedonindustrialcentres,chieflyinEuropeanRussia,WesternEurope,andNorthAmerica. Theeffectwastoconvincetherulinggroupsofallcountriesthatafewmoreatomicbombswouldmeantheendoforganizedsociety,andhenceoftheirownpower. Thereafter,althoughnoformalagreementwasevermadeorhintedat,nomorebombsweredropped. Allthreepowersmerelycontinuetoproduceatomicbombsandstorethemupagainstthedecisiveopportunitywhichtheyallbelievewillcomesoonerorlater. Andmeanwhiletheartofwarhasremainedalmoststationaryforthirtyorfortyyears. Helicoptersaremoreusedthantheywereformerly,bombingplaneshavebeenlargelysupersededbyself-propelledprojectiles,andthefragilemovablebattleshiphasgivenwaytothealmostunsinkableFloatingFortress; butotherwisetherehasbeenlittledevelopment. Thetank,thesubmarine,thetorpedo,themachinegun,eventherifleandthehandgrenadearestillinuse. AndinspiteoftheendlessslaughtersreportedinthePressandonthetelescreens,thedesperatebattlesofearlierwars,inwhichhundredsofthousandsorevenmillionsofmenwereoftenkilledinafewweeks,haveneverbeenrepeated. 

           Noneofthethreesuper-stateseverattemptsanymanoeuvrewhichinvolvestheriskofseriousdefeat. Whenanylargeoperationisundertaken,itisusuallyasurpriseattackagainstanally. Thestrategythatallthreepowersarefollowing,orpretendtothemselvesthattheyarefollowing,isthesame.