They would no longer be monopolists of specialist knowledge, purveyable to private parties in pursuit of private interests. Rather, they would become instruments, one type among many, for the realisation of collective goals.

But the conversation produced no result. In a summit conference the nay-saver is in a position to prevent what his allies desire. An alliance among democratic nations is a Polish parliament in which the liberum veto functions (within certain limits).

This mass destruction theme is present throughout the series, in the form of two nuclear blasts (in the first two games) as well as terrorist gas attacks (in the third one). Added to other recurring themes such as the potential dangerosity of isolated men (the three main antagonists of each game) or the threat posed by an alliance formed between a Middle Eastern dictator and terrorist forces, this theme deeply links post—9/11 reality and fiction.

Here is Maryland, whose massive columns wheeled into line with those of Virgina in the contest for glory, and whose State-house at Annapolis was the theatre of a spectacle of a successful commander, who, after liberating his country, gladly ungirthed his sword and laid it down upon the altar of that country.