jaclk, the original version of the story goes back to a conversation between the australian premier and mao zedong but that is differ ent. the pulses on me and if you reflect this as a serious -- the colts this on me and if you reflect on those he has a serious point. history is not a hard science so we often indulge in thinking exercises about what if something had gone differently and how might be course of events have taken shape differently. here is a serious version of the question that jack pulled on me. what is the united states had lost world war ii? how would be course of subsequent history have been different? that is a strong form of the question, and more historically responsible version. what is the united states had emerged victorious but had gone to war on a different timetable with a different force composition? how will the outcome have differently shaped the world we have lived in. i do think the shadow of world war ii recasts itself to the present century. -- casts itself to the present century. we are going to illuminate america's grand strategy in the war. there is