Barbara Tuchman on the Cold War

In the late 20th century it begins to appear as if mankind may be approaching a similar stage of suicidal folly.  Cases come so thick and fast that one can select only the overriding one: why do the superpowers not begin mutual divestment of the means of human suicide?  Why do we invest all our skills and resources in a contest for armed superiority which can never be attained for long enough to make it worth having, rather than in an effort to find a modus vivendi with our antagonist - that is to say, a way of living, not dying?

~ Barbara Tuchman, The March of Folly (1984), p. 8