UN General Assembly
1981

154. It is this unorganized and savage world, in which force takes precedence over the rule of law, that we have tried to change by adopting the Charter of the United Nations. Such a change is the fundamental meaning and highest objective of the Organization. Have we completely succeeded? We know very well that we have not, but we have sparked some hope in the world and have opened the way to another ambition for mankind, that of a world based on international law, on the sovereignty of States, on respect for the weak, on reciprocal assistance and on the refusal to use violence. Several elements tend to lead us to believe that war is no longer a normal instrument of international policy: regional cooperation among States, the balance brought about in some regions by strong alliances, the will to independence of peoples in the face of the biggest Powers and their contesting the fruits of invasion, and finally the devastating power of the weapons themselves.