UN General Assembly
2003

seek solutions. We must seize the opportunity of this debate to reaffirm our commitment to multilateral cooperation and the goals of the United Nations. Life in society demands a minimum of order, rules and solidarity. That also applies to international relations. Switzerland attaches great importance to respect for international law, which explains its commitment to humanitarian law or to the International Criminal Court. Without international law, many countries would feel themselves at the mercy of the law of the mightiest. The great powers, like the smaller ones, need a multilateral framework to resolve their differences. The time has come to rethink the role of the United Nations. Almost 60 years after the foundation of the Organization, the threats have changed, as have the geopolitical realities. Terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction have taken on more threatening dimensions. Civil wars have multiplied. AIDS has become the most deadly epidemic in the history of humankind. Poverty is far from being eradicated. Security can no longer be addressed in purely military terms. We need to review our vision of