UN General Assembly
2000

United Nations small arms conference to be held in 2001. This presupposes the inclusion of all aspects, including the legal transfer of production and stockpiles. Regional cooperation has proved to be an extremely effective means of preventing conflicts. The United Nations can do much to help here. Allow me to mention two regions where progress is particularly urgent. The triangle between Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East is full of destabilizing factors oil, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, drugs and the nuclear arms race and this area is threatening to become the crisis region of the century ahead. A new comprehensive regional process, along the lines of the Helsinki model, which fosters cooperation instead of confrontation, could play an important stabilizing role. Germany is prepared to take part in such a process. In Africa, regional approaches have gained in significance. In the main, however, it is, unfortunately, too early to talk of effective peacekeeping structures. Unfortunately, the efforts on the part of the United Nations and of the Organization of African Unity to