Tonight's inspirational thought is taken from John Mearsheimer's "Anarchy and the Struggle for Power," an essential text in international relations.

"Bedrock Assumptions:
"The first assumption is that the international system is anarchic...There is no 'goverment over governments.'
"The second assumption is that great powers inherently possess some offensive military capability, which gives them the wherewithal to hurt and possibly destroy each other. States are potentially dangerous to each other, although some states have more military might than others and are therefore more dangerous. A state's military power is usually identified with the particular weaponsry at its disposal, although even if there were no weapons, the individuals in those states could still use their feet and hands to attack the population of another state. After all, for every neck, there are two hands to choke it."