Nobody knows through how many thousands of years fighting men have made a place for themselves while the weak and peaceable have gone to the wall.

In the first place, when there is a policy of intentional aggression, inspired by a desire to get possession of the territory or the trade of another country, right or wrong, a pretext is always sought.

Claims of right and insistence upon obligations may depend upon treaty stipulations, or upon the rules of international law, or upon the sense of natural justice applied to the circumstances of a particular case, or upon disputed facts.

The theoretical postulate of all diplomatic discussion between nations is the assumed willingness of every nation to do justice.