YouSaid · the spoken record

Milla Bermúdez

lines on the record: 60
first: 1961-09-24
most recent: 1962-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

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“Possibly this modest initiative may bear fruit and its unanimous acceptance by the General Assembly may revive the hopes of a world living under the shadow of nuclear terror. But even if this new endeavour to organize peace should meet with failure, like others before it, and the thermo-nuclear war which we all fear and to which we seem to draw ever nearer should finally be unleashed, the work done in the meanwhile by the committee for the organization of peace may perhaps be of use to the survivors in enabling them, with more success than we have had, to build a rational, prosperous, peaceful, free and just world — a task in which man has so repeatedly failed throughout his strife-torn history, and in which he must eventually succeed if he is to survive.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“What is envisaged is a responsible, honest and intelligent endeavour, rising about temporary interests and concerning itself with the essence of the permanent interests of the human race. It should be a creative endeavour, similar in scope to those marking the great junctures in the history of mankind, when man changes the course of his destiny on earth. 98. We urge and beg the General Assembly to give its unanimous support to this experiment. This may be one of our last opportunities to divert science from the cause of war and harness it for peace. A small cause can sometimes produce great effects: a drop of water can result in an overflow from a glass, and a tiny change in speed can alter the course of an artificial satellite and turn it towards the earth or send it into orbit. 99.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The Committee — and we regard this as fundamental - should work in a serious, factual and technical way, and the echoes of the "cold war" should not be heard in its discussions. With this end in view, it could enlist the assistance of scientists and thinkers of universally recognized merit who would be acceptable to all groups — leading figures who stand above ephemeral passions and are accustomed to consider man and his destiny in a historical perspective and not in the context of the immediate situation. 97. As is clear from what I have said, the intention is not that the committee should carry out a routine task and produce a report which no one will want to read.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It would further encourage the establishment of the government departments or services for peace already referred to, by undertaking a study of the structure and purposes of those which exist or are contemplated and by circulating the relevant Information to Member States. Finally, it would be asked to submit to the General Assembly at its next session a report In which it would summarize and evaluate the documentation collected, recommend procedures for conducting fruitful inquiries on peace and disarmament and the limitation and elimination of weapons, and examine the advisability of establishing a permanent committee to continue this work, In the light of the findings and the experience gained. 96.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The contribution which the social, economic and political sciences have already made to the understanding of our problems is doubtless considerable, but there is still much more that they have to do in order to cap this understanding with new means of solving the problems. 95. As I have already mentioned, the draft resolution asks in particular for the establishment, with the co-operation of the specialized agencies concerned, of a special United Nations committee for the organization of peace. This committee of the General Assembly would really be experimental in character, since the task is one of great complexity. The committee would be asked to collect documentation relating to scientific inquiries on the problems of peace and disarmament and on appropriate means for attaining those ends.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“There is an evident advantage in having official bodies, in various nations with differing social and political systems, committed to the common task of determining the causes of conflicts and seeking solutions to them. No only will such organs express clearly their own particular views and solutions, but through a study of the views of others, it will be possible to create the common system of theory and practice which is so urgently required in order to give unity of purpose and outlook to a world threatened by schizophrenia and destruction. 94. Secondly, the draft resolution requests national and international non-governmental organizations particularly concerned with peace and disarmament to conduct scientific inquiries on ways and means of resolving conflicts.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In our draft resolution we invite Member States to establish government departments or ministerial services — either with a degree of autonomy or as a part of other departments — for peace and disarmament, with a mandate to study ways and means of resolving present conflicts and of preventing the development of conflicts in the future. We should point out that, in our view, such research and its results also may be useful in connexion with domestic questions, since by studying and investigating the causes of external conflicts it is possible to gain a better understanding of internal conflicts — the latter being often closely linked with the former — and such governmental bodies will therefore be able to contribute not only to world peace but to domestic peace and progress and to national stability. 93.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The United Nations, through this committee, would encourage and co-ordinate the responsible scientific efforts being made all over the world in favour of peace, publicizing the most positive aspects of those efforts. It would thus become the centre for a co-ordinated endeavour, in both the governmental and the private spheres, calmly to determine — with the help of objective scientific methods, and eschewing all propagandist and partisan motives and passions — the best methods of making disarmament and peace a reality, and the practical procedures which could be adopted for that purpose. 92.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Many significant efforts are undoubtedly being made in the fields of the social, legal, economic and political sciences, as well as in the spheres of philosophy and religion, without our receiving due information about them. The United Nations cannot remain indifferent to these events in the governmental and private spheres, which are continually increasing in number and importance. As we said in the explanatory memorandum accompanying our draft resolution, "The United Nations . . . should co-ordinate and promote such efforts on a world-wide scale and become the focal point for their extension, thus fulfilling its historic function of eradicating the scourge of war by every means in its power". 91. To this end we propose the establishment within the United Nations of a special committee for the organization of peace.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“These are the reasons and the hopes and fears which led the delegation of Honduras to submit a draft resolution and to propose for the General Assembly's agenda an item [item 23] entitled "Organization of peace". 90. Much work goes on in institutes and universities all over the world in the cause of peace, without the United Nations having any reliable and direct information regarding its results. Numerous conferences of scientists interested in preventing a destructive war are held with hardly an echo reaching us through the newspapers. Many public and private initiatives go forward in north and south, in east and west, without our being able to enjoy the encouragement and inspiration which are to be derived from these developments.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“As is well known, the Government of the United States recently created an agency for arms control and disarmament, which proposes to study the question of world peace and security on a scientific basis; for this purpose some 250 officials — many of them scientists — will study the economic, political, legal, social, psychological, military and technological factors which have a bearing on the prevention of war; and we believe that other countries are also making efforts in that direction, although we lack adequate information on this point. Be that as it may, the positive work being done in this field remains infinitesimal, and will have to be multiplied many times over if it is to have any radical effect on the world's destiny. 89.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The Senate Sub-Committee on Disarmament, he said, was surprised at the existing disparity between the theoretical and practical efforts being made by the world to control and reduce armaments and the energies devoted to the development, manufacture and improvement of weapons. 88. It is true, however, that a beginning has been made in remedying this situation.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Wadsworth, well known in these precincts as former United States Representative, and now President of the Washington Peace Research Institute — whereas every human group, enterprise, trade union or Government continually analyses projects and evaluates the future, the remarkable fact is that no one is actually devoting himself to projecting and planning, on a scientific basis, the establishment of peace. 87. Attention was drawn to this state of affairs at the national level, in 1958, by a United States Senator, who noted with surprise that in the State Department of his country there were only six or seven officials working full-time on the problems of disarmament.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In the United States, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Institute for International Order, the Peace Research Institutes, the University of Michigan Centre for Research on Conflict Resolution, the Duke University World Rule of Law Centre, and the Creighton Catholic University Peace Research Centre; in Norway, the Oslo Centre for Social Research; in Japan, the Hiroshima Institute for the Sciences of Peace; in India, the New Delhi School of International Studies; in Switzerland, the Geneva Postgraduate Institute of International Studies; and many other institutions which it would take too long to enumerate, are studying various aspects of the basic problem. However — as was said just over a year ago by Mr. James J.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Among the voices which are making themselves heard with increasing insistence in support of peace, I would mention that of Pope John XXIII, who has spoken out on numerous occasions for peace, freedom and social justice and who has recently affirmed that the coming Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church must express and encourage the yearning of mankind for a peace free of armed conflicts and having its roots and its guarantee in every human heart. 86. In the field of concrete achievement, we must mention the existence of many centres and bodies — generally of a university nature — concerned with a scientific study of the problem of building a stable and peaceful world.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In the Society's declaration of purposes it was stated that "the dangerous polarization of our intellectual world calls for an effort to overcome the antinomies which are apparent in human thought and consequently in human action", and that modern science — which is threatening us with annihilation- must therefore be oriented towards the tasks of human existence. 84. Only a month ago, in a periodical published under the auspices of the Association of Spanish University Graduates in America, the Spanish version appeared of a study — issued earlier in English — which I think might be useful in the direction to which I am referring. It is entitled "Goals for the Human Race", and it offers constructive proposals for the lessening of the ideological conflicts which accompany the conflicts of interest dividing our world. 85.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“"The possible solutions for overcoming the present crisis", he argued, "must be total and must encompass all man's relations with his environment and all relations between human groups, giving rise to the birth of a new culture". 83. In 1954 the Sociedad Venezolana de Sintesis (Venezuelan Society for Synthesis) was formed in Venezuela; its members included distinguished thinkers and scientists, such as the biologist Dr. Augusto Pi Suñer, who was awarded the Kalinga Prize by UNESCO.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In 1950, another Spanish writer and philosopher, Rafael Rodríguez Delgado, in his work Introduccion a una Filosofia de la Era Atomica, published at Havana, noted that existing antagonisms between large human groups were endangering the existence of the human species, and advised the creation of an economic and ideological structure adjusted to the new era through the discovery of new principles for coexistence and for the transformation of relationships between groups. Mankind, he said, must escape from the "polarizations" established in the course of history — masters and servants, saints and sinners, capitalists and proletarians — and bring about the synthesis of "integrated man", capable of controlling natural forces through machines, physically strong, technically efficient, morally robust and intellectually developed.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“I may say that the Spanish-speaking world has not remained aloof from this endeavour to find a new framework for human coexistence adapted to our age and to modern science. As long ago as 1922, the Spanish philosopher Jos6 Ortega y Gasset pointed out that since the beginning of our century new trends of thought had begun to appear on man's intellectual horizon, creating a system of ideas peculiar to the twentieth century and in sharp contrast with the scientific notions of the previous era.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Working groups of the Conferences considered various matters connected with disarmament, and proposals were put forward for a joint United States and Soviet Union programme of outer space exploration, for a world oceanographic study, for a programme to identify and utilize the mineral resources of the seas, for the establishment of a world cancer institute, etc. 81. Messages of encouragement and support were sent to the Conference — and this is significant — by the President of the United States, Mr. Kennedy, and by the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, Mr. Khrushchev. And both the Soviet and United States scientists subscribed to a declaration affirming that the principal goal of the Conference was to find ways of avoiding the misuse of science for the wholesale destruction of mankind. 82.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Among other topics suggested for study were the elaboration of methods for dealing with ideological conflicts arising from social upheavals instigated and abetted from abroad, the control of recent scientific discoveries capable of creating new hazards in a disarmed world, the development of a body of international criminal law, the protection of the rights of States against abuses of power by international bodies, and the restriction of propaganda directed against other nations or particular races.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The Conferences — which, in order to avoid propaganda publicity, were held in private — recommended the establishment of a special mixed group of experts to study problems such as the organization of world security forces, the development of international law, the adoption of standards to ensure the effectiveness of peaceful coexistence, the creation of international tribunals and the strengthening of the United Nations. It was thought necessary for this purpose to set up study groups under the auspices of non-governmental organizations such as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the USSR Academy of Sciences. 80.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It is therefore not surprising that we should have made such fabulous progress in the building of armaments, and so little in the building of the new and stable institutions of peace which the atomic age and the survival of our species require. 78. Yet it is true that scientists, writers and thinkers from East and West have made fairly frequent and fruitful contact with each other, as at the Conferences on Science and World Affairs which have been organized from time to time. Just over a year ago, one of these Conferences — held at Stowe, Vermont — was attended by nearly fifty eminent scientists from the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries of the East and the West, who agreed that all other dangers were minute compared with those presented by total nuclear war. 79.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“To bring this home to men all over the world is the most important and most fateful social task intellectuals have ever had to shoulder," 77. In 1955 another great atomic physicist, Leo Szilard, expressed the view that new political and social inventions were needed to found an organized world community capable of living permanently in peace. Quite recently the Canadian nuclear physicist. Dr. Alcock, stated that, in the consideration of matters relating to disarmament and peace, not only was the scientific method not being used taut no method at all was being employed. He pointed out that while 90 per cent of the total funds invested in research went to the physical sciences, only 9 per cent went to the biological sciences and less than 1 per cent to the social sciences.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“True, the United Nations exists; but it is not yet well enough equipped, economically and scientifically, to determine the real, the effective means which in the present world situation could be used to ease tensions, to place modern science and technology in the service of peace, and to create a stable and balanced world — a renewed world of human beings in which knowledge is used to promote not death but life. 76. As early as 1945, at the dawn of the atomic era, Einstein asserted that "a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move towards higher levels in 1948 he said; "The 'cliches' of yesterday will no longer do today, and will, no doubt, be hopelessly out of date tomorrow.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Maintain the former attitudes which are bringing us to the edge of the abyss, to try every possible new formula? As the President of the United States said last year in this very hall [1013th meeting], "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind". 75. It is no secret that huge amounts of human and material resources are being expended on so-called defence efforts which, as the leaders of the great Powers themselves admit, in the last analysis have nothing but mutual destruction in view. But we are not making the same economic and intellectual efforts to build and consolidate peace.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Regarding the possibility of "winning" what is called the "cold war", we must examine the meaning of the word "winning". Does winning the cold war mean reducing the other side to such a state of desperation that it resorts to a hot war, a thermo-nuclear war, as a last, suicidal course? Does winning the war of nerves mean causing one's adversary to lose his senses and send his countless messengers of death into the air? 73. The efficacy of threats is steadily decreasing. Statesmen are no longer disturbed by repeated warnings from their adversaries that nuclear war is imminent unless they agree to do this or refrain from doing that. A few may think it best to yield to a vigorous opponent; but the majority of nations, as we see, prefer to take the chance, even to risk destruction. 74. What then are we to do?”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Even if we had seven lives, our chances of surviving a thermo-nuclear war would not be very great. 71. The Federal Civil Defense Administration of the United States has declared that a 2,000-megaton attack on the United States would produce the following effects in less than one week: 47 per cent of the population would perish, 15 per cent would suffer injury and sickness and 38 per cent would be unhurt, although many of the latter would succumb later in the process of moving about, consuming contaminated food and water, etc. If that were the result of a relatively small attack, we can readily imagine the consequences of an attack ten or fifteen times stronger. But so much has been written on this subject and on the possibility of thermo-nuclear war occurring by accident or miscalculation that we need not labour the point here. 72.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Yet, in total contradiction with their expressed desires, we continue to advance towards a catastrophic end, depicted so variously in scientific and literary works, in film and in drama — an end towards which we are moving as though we were victims of the blind forces of Greek tragedy. 70. In a speech delivered in late 1959 and reproduced in The Strategy of Peace. Mr. Kennedy, now President of the United States, stated the following: "Already our total destructive capacity is sufficient to annihilate the enemy twenty-five times over — he has the power to destroy us ten times. Between us we are in a position to exterminate all human life seven times over." What would the situation be now, three years later, with the further formidable development of nuclear weapons?”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It is pointless to try to calm our minds and allay our fears by representing ourselves as noble defenders of peace and the other camp as fiendish war-mongers. Our arguments and justifications, our reasons and excuses will be of little avail if this dramatic period in human history finally ends with the destruction of towns and nations, with the incineration of men and women and with the disappearance of that hope which is constantly reborn in children and in nature, 69. For the first time in history the leaders of the two most powerful States in the world have publicly agreed that general and complete disarmament in their nations and throughout the world must be effected.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The clouds that loured upon the last session of the Assembly have not been dispersed; in some areas they have become even darker. For years now we have been talking at great length about disarmament and peaceful coexistence, but the inescapable fact is that some peoples are being sent large quantities of weapons and encouraged to use them against others. Passions are being stirred up rather than calmed. Not only have nuclear tests not been suspended, they have been periodically intensified, the explosions becoming more powerful and reaching greater heights in the atmosphere. 68. The "cold war" has not subsided; it has, in some ways, grown more intense. Armaments have not been reduced, but are daily being made more accurate and quicker and deadlier in their effect.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“If one problem such as that of Algeria has been resolved — to the joy of the whole world — others remain, Germany, for instance, is still denied the promised opportunity of deciding its own national destiny freely and democratically, despite the victors' solemn pledge to respect the principle of self-determination of peoples and although the Charter, in its very first Article, proclaims this principle and demands respect for it. 66. While on the one hand Indonesia and the Netherlands are coming to terms, on the other there is even greater divergency between the great nuclear Powers with regard to those problems which are uppermost in the minds of men, which are increasingly reflected in the agendas of the General Assembly, and which have already been the subject of angry words in this Hall. 67.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Writers and thinkers from both camps have on many occasions expressed their desire to attain mutual understanding and to work together for the building of a new world. 65. But while It is true that natural evolution is eliminating or attenuating old problems, or offering novel solutions for them, it is equally true that fresh problems are arising — problems even more formidable in character, and for which new solutions are required. Many countries which once formed political entities are now divided, while in many parts of the world internal discord is increasing together with the dangers of armed conflict and bloodshed.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The communist world, too, is undergoing changes and transformations, opening up pathways to new freedoms and broader perspectives; we find symbolic evidence of this in the fact that the name of Einstein, once scorned in the Soviet Union, is now respected there, while the music of Igor Stravinsky, once considered bourgeois and decadent, is today heard in Moscow. 64. It is likewise heartening that it has been possible to carry through such international endeavours as the International Geophysical Year and the research conducted in the Arctic by Western and Soviet scientists working, often, in close collaboration. Nuclear physicists — the men who best know the dangers to humanity implicit in their science — have met in numerous conferences of scientists from both East and West, at which agreement has usually prevailed.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The colonial system is rapidly disappearing, and the former colonies are today responsible States which are endeavouring to achieve accelerated economic, technological and cultural growth. The face of the world is changing with dizzying speed, and Asia and Africa are providing the clearest evidence of this process. 63. The great industrial Powers of the West are likewise undergoing rapid change, the birth of new economic and political constellations accompanying the rise within them of a new social and humanitarian spirit, in which they rediscover their oldest and most precious traditions while at the same time maintaining their ideal of liberty and giving historic reality to that ideal through the liberation of entire peoples.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Hammarskjold and the no less resolute endeavours of U Thant — to which we pay tribute — have helped to strengthen the United Nations and enabled it to overcome the mortal dangers which have threatened its existence. But it now rests with the Members of the Organization themselves to demonstrate their sense of responsibility and their political flexibility, through the adoption of decisions which will again place the Organization on firm economic and moral ground — for only thus will the United Nations be able to perform effectively the duties assigned to it by the Charter. 62. The presence, in this hall, of an increasing number of delegations from former colonial countries is a heartening sign.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“But every new session of the General Assembly opens the way for hopes that are each year renewed. 60. Given the strict time-limit we have imposed upon ourselves, it would be impossible for each of us to comment on every item of the agenda. I shall therefore merely make brief references to some of the problems which Honduras regards as of major importance. 61. Because of our faith in the United Nations and our conviction that it is an irreplaceable instrument for peace and progress, we are profoundly concerned over the crisis through which our Organization is passing — a financial crisis, to be sure, but basically in institutional crisis which reflects the even deeper crisis enveloping the present-day world. It is true that the undaunted efforts of Mr.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“57. On behalf of the Republic of Honduras, Mr. President, allow me to congratulate you on being elected to preside over the meetings of this Assembly. My delegation feels certain that your great talents will contribute to the productiveness of this session and to the fulfilment of the hopes we place in it. 58. We wish also to extend a most cordial welcome to the new nations admitted to the United Nations. We offer to them the unconditional friendship of our country, together with our best wishes for their prosperity. 59. The items demanding our attention at this seventeenth session of the General Assembly are numerous and varied. Old unresolved problems, and new problems of a most difficult nature, will challenge our patience and our intelligence.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“We sincerely believe that this is the only method and the only possibility today of achieving the triumph of an integral democracy which will be the happy culmination of the history of mankind—political and economic democracy uniting social justice and freedom in a harmonious synthesis in a world at peace.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The delegation of Honduras accepts the idea that the time has come to make a vigorous and coordinated effort in the public and private, national and international spheres, in favour of peace by means of strict and effective investigation, using modern science and technology for constructive purposes and gradually dissociating them from work designed for destruction. It is simply a matter of making use of the immense intellectual and material resources which are available to modern man in the task of building peace instead of letting them be consumed in the holocaust of thermo-nuclear war. 105.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“The delegation of Honduras, encouraged by these favourable signs which cast' a faint ray of light in a world darkened by fear, will in due course submit a draft resolution Which it hopes a number of other delegations will join it in sponsoring, inviting States Members of the United Nations to establish ministerial departments and bureaux for peace and disarmament which will contribute, from various points of view, to the study of the possibilities and means of solving the present conflicts and preventing future ones, with the assistance of those non-governmental organizations which are particularly concerned and which wish to contribute to this formidable task. 104.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“It is already recognized that the dissemination of objective, scientific knowledge of possible solutions is necessary if disarmament and inspection are to be effective. This, however, is only the beginning of a long road the end of which is the intervention of science hi the final settlement of human disputes. 102. Undoubtedly it is because of this fact that the new United States Administration has decided to set up a disarmament agency whose ultimate objective was stated by President Kennedy [1013th meeting] to be that men should be able to live in a world free from war and from the dangers and burdens presented by armaments, renewing hope that we may work together for progress in the critical battle which is being waged for the survival of the human race. 103.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“They can only discharge this responsibility by making a decisive contribution to the establishment of peace. 100. Scientists have proved that international collaboration is possible; one example among many was the International Geophysical Year. Barely two weeks ago, notwithstanding the political tensions which rack the world, distinguished Western and Soviet scientists employed in high positions by their respective Governments drew up plans for working together in various scientific undertakings. 101. With increasing frequency diplomats and statesmen have recourse to scientific advisers to analyse each other's positions, motives and interests and find practical means of action.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“For good or ill we are living in a new age, presided over by science, and this gives us the right to wonder whether we cannot find in this same science, the creator of the dangers that directly threaten us, new methods of establishing peace. If science is one and if humanity too is basically one, might it not be possible, as has been suggested, to find scientific solutions to certain problems which hitherto have been regarded as essentially political? What other solution than a scientific one can there be for the demographic, economic, political and social problems which overwhelm us? 99. Scientists have incurred a great responsibility towards the human race by discovering the secrets of the energy which illuminates the stars, and converting it into a means of destruction.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“But is there any hope of finding new solutions? Is there any hope that man, who has constructed so many wonderful machines for destruction, can also learn to build* machines and institutions for peace? Cannot the ideas of man, who has invented thermo-nuclear weapons, be used to forge an indestructible peace? As we see it, this is the fundamental question of our time, to which a reply must urgently be found. 98. It was modern science, twentieth-century research, the new technology which won the Second World War. It was also modern scientific ideas, the abstract theories of nuclear' physics, information theory, mathematical logic, that created atomic weapons and the means of delivering them.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“But how can that be achieved in a planet which is more divided with every day that passes? What procedures, what techniques, what paths can we follow to transform the growing opposition into growing agreement, exchange bloody battles for fruitful co-operation and beat swords into ploughshares? 97. As a contemporary Spanish writer has said, for the first time in history peace is essential for the survival of the human race; notwithstanding that fact we continue to use theories and techniques for war and revolution which belong to previous centuries and were based on situation quite different from that of the present day. Undoubtedly, if we do not wish the political systems which are endeavouring to unify the world; from opposite points of view to end by destroying it, we must make a gigantic effort to find new methods and new solutions.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“In this respect they have fulfilled the hopes expressed by Volney when he decicated his work The Ruins of Palmyra to the new peoples of the Spanish Indies and to the noble leaders who were guiding them towards freedom, and expressed the desire that the errors an$ misfortunes of the old world would teach wisdom and happiness to the new world. 95. Today the new world consists not only of Latin America but also of Asia and Africa and, in a deeper sense, of the whole planet, which must revise its ancient ideas and methods or be prepared to expire in an inglorious blaze of thermo-nuclear destruction. 96. Last year Dag Hammarskjold said that the time had come to introduce a new theme into the symphony of human life—the theme of reconciliation and of joy in reconciliation.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“Berlin, Germany, Laos, Viet-Nam and various other divided countries bring us face to face with the most important question of all those which trouble the world today: the choice between a devastating war and peace. 94. Perhaps it may be said that there is little that the small countries can do, but we believe, as President Frondizi, of the Argentine Republic, said recently, that the peoples of Latin America, although they may not carry much weight in the business of war, count for much in the enterprises of peace. Spanish America and Indian America have a long tradition of international peace which we might describe as truly exemplary.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“If the law were to be fully applied, if the United Nations Charter were respected, if Germany could decide freely and democratically and as a whole on the problem of Berlin and the final destiny of that city, if the principle of the self-determination of peoples were put into practice, as promised by the Powers which were victorious in the Second World War, with regard to Germany, there would be no problem. As we all know, however, the political situation is very different and in view of the gravity of the present situation we hope that an honourable solution, as just as possible, may be found without delay in order to avoid the outbreak of an absurd and monstrous conflict which would multiply the present problems and solve none. 93.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)
“What we may call the new school of the second half of the twentieth century endeavours to promote the economic progress of the under-developed countries so as to give them a decent life, avoid the international friction resulting from economic inequality, increase the total wealth of the world and, in the last analysis, create a rich, stable and pacific world. The former thesis is that of selfish, grasping old-type nationalism based on the brute force of arms. The latter thesis is that of the integration of nationalism and internationalism, based on the supreme interests of mankind and the rule of law. 92. This brings us logically to the very serious political problem of Berlin.”
1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)