UN General Assembly
1987

The foremost issue of international concern is the prevention of a war in which nuclear weapons will be used. This is a common danger that all countries face and no national security policy can protect States from that threat, for the dynamics of a nuclear war know no sanctuary. In past wars it was possible to destroy a village, a town or even a country. Now, nuclear weapons threaten all mankind in its planetary dimension. So long as nuclear weapons exist there can be no guarantee that they will not be used and we cannot dismiss the possibility of an outbreak of nuclear war due to accident, miscalculation or failure of communication. World peace and security cannot endure indefinitely in conditions in which the spiralling of the arms race, particularly the nuclear arms race, continues without respite. The attainment of general disarmament and the elimination of nuclear weapons are issues of paramount importance not only to the major Powers but to all other countries of the world.