384 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
But what about this Eurasian grassland as a stage and base of opera- 
tions in the world of tooth and fang, but equipped also with plane and 
bomb ? 
Mackinder pointed out at the end of World War I that land-based 
air power would soon make the Mediterranean untenable to any kind 
of shipping. Here he showed himself a most true prophet. History 
has vindicated Mackinder. It has also vindicated Woodrow Wilson’s 
dictum that if any people or nation is not safe, no nation is safe. 
Immensely strengthened is the argument for world organization to 
outlaw war. If our intelligence is any greater than that of the sheep 
or the cow we will strive for international organization that is 
equipped for: 
1. The removal of international tensions before they make 
explosions. 
2. The treatment of any war as we treat smallpox and rabies. 
