UN General Assembly
1994

war and, once and for all, do away with war’s attendant human degradation and hatred. However, the victorious emergence of two ideologically opposed Powers led to the creation of a bipolar international system that gave birth to the so-called cold war, marked by lateral confrontation and an arms race which, because of the ever-present possibility of direct confrontation, could have led to a nuclear holocaust and the annihilation of mankind. Thus it was that the General Assembly became the stage par excellence for the airing and debate of the most urgent world-wide problems. While its political effectiveness may not have met all the requirements of peace because of the structure of world power that had prevailed since 1945, it did achieve overwhelming success in the actions and programmes of its specialized agencies. Born to foster peace and security and to promote development, the United Nations was the fruit of the post- Second-World-War era. At that time peace meant the absence of war and of the justifiable fear of world-wide self-destruction. The hope for a renewed international order based on