No doubt there are major political crises lurking whose outlines we can barely make out at the moment. And no doubt each of you could add other priorities to the list that I have given today from the environment to disarmament, discrimination, drug trafficking, terrorism and so forth. And you would be right in thinking that the United Nations should do something about all these issues, for they transcend borders. These are problems without borders. That is why another all-encompassing challenge is to build and buttress the machinery of international cooperation itself.
Local communities have their fire departments and town councils.
Nations have their courts and legislatures. Rules that are fair to all, and institutions that are open to all which would be the basis of international cooperation. That is precisely what the United Nations family is trying to do. That is why I attach great importance to this year's series of millennium events to be held here in New York. The United Nations observance of the millennium must be more than a celebratory event.