A lifelong student of international relations, Adda B. Bozeman is concerned by the tendency among Americans in general and American political writers in particular to "assume, without supporting evidence, that one of OUR morally preferred words and convictions carries a universally accepted truth." Particularly is this so, she observes, "in the case of "Peace," "Law," and, in more recent years, of "Human Rights." " Yet Mrs. Bozeman notes there is no common consensus on the meaning of such words and no way to make the world safe for democracy when the bulk of the globe's governments are "associated with authoritarian regimes." Since "the quest for peace is not a morally shared concern," she concludes, "its furtherance thus depends upon diplomacy." Mrs. Bozeman is a professor emeritus of international relations at Sarah Lawrence College, where she taught for 30 years before retiring in 1977.She was among the founders of the Committee on the Present Danger and is the author of several books, including Conflict in Africa: Concepts and Realities and The Future of Law in a Multicultural World.

The multicultural world from its beginnings was the subject of Louis J. Halle's magnum opus, Out of Chaos, reviewed in VQR's Summer 1978 issue. A man of many specialties, Mr. Halle has been a contributor to this magazine for more than 40 years, with the subject matters of his essays ranging from international relations to natural history. Among his published books are two perennials, Spring in Washington (nature) and The Cold War as History (politics). The seabirds that are the subject of his article in this issue are also the subject of two of his books, The Storm Petrel & the Owl of Athena and The Sea & the Ice: A Naturalist in Antarctica.The drawings Mr. Halle has made for the current issue do not represent the first time he has illustrated his own work, but they are the first drawings to appear in VQR.