UN General Assembly
1969

our time that man, before embarking on the conquest of space, did not think to secure his rearguard by first creating order in his affairs on earth. We may well wonder whether this leap forward is not really an escape from what lies behind. 55. Last year about this same time. and from this same rostrum [1703rd meeting], I, like all the other leaders of delegations, analysed the world situation and tried to suggest some solutions for the more troublesome and serious problems that mankind has to face. On rereading my speech, I realized that I could almost repeat it word for word, so true is it that our problems have not fundamentally changed and that the behaviour of nations has remained the same. 56. In Viet-Nam, unfortunately, the war continues to rage, while negotiations in Paris are apparently making no headway and are still being held up by an insistence on prior conditions which continually delays the establishment of the just peace that is so much desired. 57. In the Middle East a war of attrition has followed the