UN General Assembly
1993

the Western so-called free world; and that the cold war was drawing to a close. Peace was breaking out all over the world and there was much talk of peace dividends. The arms race would end, there would be nuclear disarmament and, as the saying goes, swords would be turned into ploughshares. A brave new world would emerge: equitable, just and prosperous. There would be no oppression, no terror and no poverty or starvation. Everyone would embrace democracy and the market economy, moving from authoritarian rule and command economies without a hitch. And a global policeman would see to it that every country stayed in line or faced the consequences. There was no end to the good things that would make up the peace dividends. It would be wrong to say that there were no peace dividends at all - the Iran-Iraq war, the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the war in Cambodia, some of the Central American wars, and now the violent Palestinian-Israeli confrontation and South Africa’s apartheid were all resolved,