UN General Assembly
1995

North — once the epicentre of most of history’s major conflicts — has been a place of peace and cooperation; and, despite the build-up of weapons of mass destruction, the rivalry between the two great ideological and military alliances did not drag international society into a third world war, which would have sealed the fate of mankind. Aware of the danger to the world posed by the arms race, the United Nations encouraged the conclusion of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its indefinite extension; it has promoted the creation of denuclearized zones, inter alia in Africa, and the conclusion of the Convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons; and it has given decisive impetus to multilateral negotiations on disarmament. We are glad that, in its ongoing quest for peace, the Organization has been able when necessary to adapt the Charter to the realities, including by devising the notion of peace-keeping operations, which have defused many conflicts and created favourable conditions for dialogue and negotiation. By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to United