UN General Assembly
1985

The generation that launched the United Nations also saw the launching of the nuclear age. While conventional attitudes towards this world Organization are still shaped by the memories of the Second world War, there is today a new specter that haunts our civilization, the specter of a nuclear catastrophe. Hostile military blocs are poised against each other with an armada of nuclear weaponry that could wipe out all life on this planet many times over. Survival in this nuclear age has become the key issue of our times. The United Nations today is the hub of diplomatic activity for the nations of the world. Whatever their divergence in political systems, economic structures or cultural mores, they come together in almost daily contact on a variety of bilateral, multilateral and global issues. Yet this so-called democratization of international relations is only part of the story. On the other hand, the pressures and divisions that characterize contemporary international relations seriously hamper the Organization and reduce its capacity for effective action. As Jawaharlal Nehru stated at the United Nations as early as 1948: