UN General Assembly
1974

98. It is true that in the twenty-ninth year of the life of the Assembly we can congratulate ourselves that a global conflagration has been avoided. That indeed represents a cause of justifiable pride to the peoples of the United Nations and the triumph, to a certain degree, of human reason. But, on the other hand, localized wars in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere- colonial wars, wars of conquest and of intervention -have caused untold suffering to millions of people. We must emphasize that, in terms of the cumulative loss of human life, the suffering and the havoc wrought, the effect of local wars certainly of no less severity to the victims than that of global war. 99. In this context, let me state at once that Ethiopia does not pretend to have any magic formula for the total elimination of wars and international conflicts. My country has, however, consistently urged the strengthening and the use of the established machinery for the peaceful settlement of international disputes.