UN General Assembly
1997

is being transformed by sweeping global trends, some problems are so deep-rooted that they resist even the best efforts of the international community. The United Nations, no stranger itself to intractable conflicts, will continue to be one of our best hopes for resolving such situations. While tending to such traditional challenges, the United Nations must also address the many complex new challenges brought on by the process of globalization. Indeed, globalization has come to mean different things to different people. To many, it holds out the promise of an unprecedented era of progress and prosperity. To its proponents, globalization has unleashed the forces of creativity and productivity in the world economy. 12 Globalization has been heralded for having spread the ideas and values of democracy and freedom worldwide. On the other hand, there are those who contend that globalization has become an all-embracing pretext for the imposition of certain sets of ideas and values. They see globalization as leading to a monopoly of economic power in the hands of a ruthless few whose sole allegiance is to