UN General Assembly
1996

with which political, economic, social, cultural and scientific news flows through it. These societies may not be ready to assimilate and absorb this flow of information, so they react by isolating themselves, by withdrawing into seclusion, or by hiding behind the veil of tradition to protect their identity. This manifests itself in the extremism and fundamentalism these societies use to shield themselves from what is often perceived as a threat to their identity. These and other problems and challenges require invigorating the United Nations machinery and renewing confidence in its credibility, justice and efficiency, to free its decisions from hegemony, eliminate its imbalances and bring consistency to the standards it uses for the implementation of its resolutions. We must do this if we want the United Nations to remain a valuable global authority and the alternative to destructive and violent confrontation. The world has witnessed a succession of local and regional crises. Lebanon, which has suffered immensely, plagued by the wars of others on its soil, follows with concern the developments in different parts of the world.