What do you get when peace is absent?
The absence of peace yields war—real war. The rider of the red horse brings war on the earth, takes peace from the earth, and causes people to kill one another. This event comes after the seven years have begun, and its battleground is marked by people killing one another rather than the enemy.
Les explains that when peace is absent, the inevitable result is war, and he emphasizes, “I mean a real war.” In the sequence, after the seven years have begun, the next event is another horse, a red horse. The rider of the red horse is an individual or power entity who will bring war on the earth. He takes peace from the earth so that people should kill one another. Les points out that this rider’s battleground is epitomized not by killing the enemy but by people killing each other. He also asks what great power on earth is associated with the color red, answering that it is Russia.