The 38th floor.

• Position: Javier Perez de Cuellar on various UN concerns - Editorial

The 38th Floor

On the inauguration of the International Year of Peace, 1 January 1986:

HUMANITY stands today at the crossroads. The path of the future remains open, subject to a choice Which has yet to be made. One road leads to peace, the other to self-destruction. As military expenditures continue to rise and ever more sophisticated weapons and technology are developed, the threat of nuclear annihilation has reached a critical juncture. This is not, however, the only challenge of our time. The world today must also confront the hardships caused by regional and local conflicts, the debilitating effects of disease and proverty, the misery of famine and natural disaster. It is time to act on behalf of the future well-being of all nations with the vision and forebearance that peace requires.

Today marks the inauguration not only of a new, but of a special year--the International Year of Peace. This Year offers a rare opportunity for Member States, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and others to focus on the problems and prospects of peace. Three major dimensions of the programme of the Year--Peace and Disarmament, Peace and Development, and Preparation for Life in Peace--are illustrative of the many perspectives in which the pursuit of peace must be seen. The International Year of Peace can provide a valuable framework for encouraging the study and resolve needed to reduce the likelihood of war.

At the opening of the 1986 Conference on Disarmament, 4 February:

The general improvement in the international climate . . . in no sense decreases the size of the task of reaching tangible agreements which still lies before us. The dangers stemming from the existence of large arsenals of nuclear weapons have not diminished and to these are added the ever-increasing stocks of conventional weapons. In many places, the use of force continues to bring destruction and death and to hold in jeopardy the needed increase in international confidence; the growth in global military expenditures has not yet been halted, while vast areas of the world suffer a serious lack of resources for development.

As the single multilateral disarmament negotiating body of the international community, the Conference on Disarmament has a major role in the completion of the practical disarmament agreements which are so badly needed. All Governments know that, in this nuclear age, any major conflict carries with it the risk of world-wide disaster. All must...