UN General Assembly
1995

Early experience brought a sense of exhilaration. When Saddam Hussein made his foolish miscalculation and sought to wipe Kuwait off the map, the United Nations was the means chosen to stop him, and it worked. Talk of a new world order did not seem empty. Five years on, the record looks more diffuse. The international community could do little to halt disintegration in Somalia or to avert bloody collapse in Rwanda. The wars of secession in the former Yugoslavia have dragged on for four years. But those who speak of United Nations failure are wrong. The pendulum that swung too far towards euphoria after the Gulf War has swung too far towards despair. Look at the facts. Alongside the torment of Bosnia and Rwanda are the democratic revolutions that have swept South Africa, South America and Central and Eastern Europe. We live in a post-apartheid world, with a Europe of free nations and the Middle East peace process a reality rather than a slogan. The United Nations has helped bring about peace in Namibia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Mozambique and at