UN General Assembly
1988

There was a time in human history when war was pursued as an affirmation of the strength, courage and honour of men and nations. For others, it was a mechanism for the gratification of personal or territorial ambitions. It produced with traumatic regularity an array of fearsome leaders throughout the centuries. This tale of devastation, carnage and ferocity is catalogued in the pages of history. Today, in our world of the late twentieth century, minor traumas still exist, blemishing the intellectual, artistic and technological achievements of our age. From Kampuchea to southern Africa, from Western Sahara to Central America, the history is painfully familiar, and while the justification may be refined or righteous, the prosecution of war still bears many of the hallmarks of conflicts of distant ages.