UN General Assembly
1968

177. In drawing this picture it is not my purpose either to create despondency or to discredit the United Nations. The United Nations is what its Members wish it to be. Each member bears its share of responsibility, but in proportion to its means, in other words, in proportion to its power. 178. Lebanon, a small, peaceful country devoted to justice, has constantly proclaimed its allegiance to the United Nations and its devotion to the principles of the Charter. It is prepared to do everything in its power to strengthen the Organization, because it sees it as the best instrument for international justice, peace and security. Lebanon’s most heartfelt wish is that the Organization should prove itself equal to its responsibilities, and that can only be if the Powers, and principally the greatest Powers, set the example by basing their behaviour on the ideals of the Charter. 179. Those responsibilities are especially clear when we consider one of the most agonizing problems of our age, that of the Middle East.