UN General Assembly
1990

In the last twelve months, a whirlwind of change has swept across the world. An air of co-operation and mutual trust has replaced the atmosphere of confrontation and distrust which marred East-West relations for over forty years. In Central and Eastern Europe dictatorships have tumbled and the ideology of communism is totally discredited. In a matter of days, Germany will be united and the last remaining symbol of a Europe divided thereby abolished. Conditions have thus been created for engineering of a new order of peace and stability in Europe - in short, for rebuilding a Europe whole and free. The benign effects of this profound transformation have been felt world-wide. For the first time we can now expect that energies, previously drained by military competition and the selfish pursuit of national ends, will be channelled into co-operative efforts in the service of humanity as a whole. The new, unprecedented commitment to collective action has brought in its wake certain undisputed advantages for the United Nations also.