UN General Assembly
1962

37. The achievements of the United Nations in the economic and social fields are important in themselves, but to our mind they also serve a higher purpose. They contribute in a very real sense to the attainment of international security. They serve to de-fuse, as it were, some of the explosion points of the cold war. As developing countries gain more ground towards stability and prosperity, the arena of the cold war recedes. Contented and progressive societies are the best and strongest bulwarks of peace. 38. This is perhaps the most valuable service that the United Nations can perform, to help build up stout bulwarks of peace throughout the world in the form of independent and prosperous societies, to keep open the avenues of negotiation, conciliation and peaceful settlement in international disputes and to prevent the ultimate catastrophe of war from cancelling all the constructive gains so far achieved by the world community.