UN General Assembly
1955

38. This moral duty I intend to carry out here, with frankness and with clarity, without resorting to diplomatic hedging, for I am addressing a gathering which, as Mr. Dulles so rightly pointed out [518th meeting], should be the highest moral authority in the world. 39. At Geneva, the four Heads of Government defined certain objectives. They affirmed their common will to establish conditions for a lasting relaxation of tension, and they undertook to lay the foundations for peaceful coexistence between States, however diverse their political, economic and social systems. 40. What are the conditions for true relaxation of tension and genuine coexistence? In order to define them clearly, let us recall the chief distinguishing characteristic of the world in the twentieth century, as it stands on the threshold of the atomic era. 41. Henceforth, the peoples share a common destiny, for better or for worse, whether the future brings prosperity or annihilation. But at the same time, the world is divided by opposing political philosophies, which at first sight appear totally irreconcilable.