UN General Assembly
1994

the great French philosopher, Blaise Pascal, said in his Pensées remains as true as ever. He said that justice without force was powerless and that force without justice was tyrannical. The collective security system of the United Nations which is part of the post-war order, has not really been applied by the international community in the case of the conflict in former Yugoslavia. The hope that the collective security system would be used as an 15 instrument of peace following its successful use after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait has proved disappointing. Unfortunately, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not an isolated case. It would be a serious mistake not to mention, at least, some other tragedies - Rwanda, Angola, Afghanistan, Haiti, Tajikistan, and so on. There is too long a list of hotbeds of crisis and violence, where the law of the strongest tramples underfoot the principles of the Charter of San Francisco. At the same time we must draw strength and optimism from some positive developments, historic in their significance. I may mention, for example, free and