UN General Assembly
1981

299. We need not, and will not, bow in despair before the awesome might of the nuclear Powers. Rather, we must oblige them to accept and recognize the fact that part of the attributes of sovereignty which every State enjoys is the prerogative to determine the manner in which its citizens can live or die and that any abridgment of that right constitutes a violation of the most fundamental of all human rights the right to live. When some countries decide to embark on a reckless arms buildup, it becomes the legitimate right of other States to express their concern and apprehension. That is why we feel compelled and justified to call upon those who have so obstinately sought to intimidate the rest of mankind with the greatest arms buildup the world has ever known to recognize that the earth is ours too, and that we are unwilling to permit its wanton and mindless destruction. We believe that enough is enough. The United Nations must redouble its effort to bring some sanity to the arms race, but such effort will succeed only to the extent that nations, individually and collectively, decide to turn their swords into ploughshares and release for peaceful development the vast resources at present devoted to missiles.