UN General Assembly
2015

At the same time, the rules-based international system that keeps the peace between nations is being undermined by States willing to violate the territorial integrity of others or to breach the most fundamental prohibitions on weapons of mass destruction. And alongside these challenges, we face the longer term threats of climate change, global pandemics and anti-microbial resistance — threats that we must tackle effectively now, if we are not to put the lives of future generations at risk. But it is in Syria and Iraq, in the crucible of human civilization, that our collective values and our will to act are being most immediately challenged. The twin evils of Al-Assad’s murderous regime and the brutality of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Daesh, have inflicted suffering on the Syrian people on an almost unimaginable scale. The humanitarian crisis, the tide of refugees seeking sanctuary in neighbouring countries and in Europe, underscore the urgent need to end the conflict and represent huge tests of our resolve.