UN General Assembly
1983

132. Understandably, international public opinion is profoundly conscious of these open breaches of world peace, which involve various countries or groups of countries. But we should not forget that peace 3s not just the absence of war. It is far more than that; it is the total absence of any kind of violence. Thus, it would take forever to list every kind and focal point of violence existing within certain States which lead to the proliferation of further major conflicts and in the end reach the international arena. 133. It is important and useful to use all possible means to prevent these internal disputes since experience has shown that once they reach major proportions there is much less likelihood of finding effective solutions. 134. In these circumstances, action by the Secretary- General, however energetic and persistent, is not enough to quench all the trees, seeing the scantiness of the means available to him.