UN General Assembly
1954

27; But the most important, and incomparably the most important, of the tasks of the United Nations remains that of keeping the peace, or, possibly, establishing the peace. Though in this field, too, we have had a number of achievements, there is less ground for satisfaction, or even for confidence, that the passage of time is necessarily bringing us closer to our goal. There is far more reason for anxiety than for complacency. 28. The United Nations has, I think, shown in Korea that it is capable of taking effective and successful international police action against local aggression. It must be remembered, however, that in this case one great Power — we pay tribute to it — was willing and able to lead and to shoulder most of the burden. 29. But apart from the problem of possible local aggression, and the risk of its spreading through hasty or ill-considered action, there remains the danger of a major conflict. Here, as I see it, the primary object of our world Organization must be prevention, rather than intervention.