Conclusion

Summary

Christianity (FOR CHRISTIANITY IS PLATONISM FOR THE “PEOPLE”), produced in Europe a magnificent tension of soul, such as had not existed anywhere previously; with such a tensely strained bow one can now aim at the furthest goals. As a matter of fact, the European feels this tension as a state of distress, and twice attempts have been made in grand style to unbend the bow: once by means of Jesuitism, and the second time by means of democratic enlightenment – which, with the aid of liberty of the press and newspaper-reading, might, in fact, bring it about that the spirit would not so easily find itself in “distress”! (The Germans invented gunpowder – all credit to them! but they again made things square – they invented printing.)

Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

India detonated a nuclear bomb on May 11, 1998, and a second bomb on May 13. Pakistan responded by exploding five of its own nuclear bombs on May 28, 1998. The Indian subcontinent had officially gone nuclear. China, of course, had exploded its own atomic bomb on October 16, 1964. North Korea tested a small atomic bomb on October 9, 2006. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are understood to be able to build nuclear bombs in a relatively short period of time if they choose to do so, and all possess the necessary skills to mount those weapons on missiles. Only the Southeast Asian states seem far from this technology.