UN General Assembly
1973

41. A whole series of problems are clamouring for solution. It cannot be said that the United Nations is not dealing with them. It may well be asked, however, how many of them are really being solved, and the answer is not a comforting one. It must be acknowledged that some problems become harder rather than easier to solve as time goes by, but they may become even more difficult if they are put off further. 42. The problem of problems is that of the continuing arms race. The development of techniques of mass destruction and the stockpiling of weapons have long since gone beyond the point where using them becomes an absurdity, for, as V. I. Lenin foresaw half a century ago, this process is "undermining the very conditions for the existence of human society". It must be obvious to all how ruinous it is to go on replenishing the arsenals. Yet. only in recent years has it become possible to take the first I repeat, the first step towards limiting the arms race.