October 24th marked the 63rd Anniversary of the United Nations. In Article 1 of the UN Charter, the founding member states articulated the purposes of the organization as follows :

• To maintain international peace and security, and to that end : to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace…..
• To develop friendly relations among nations, based on respect for the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…..
• To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character…..
• To be a cetner for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

It was a most fitting day, then, for the UN to host a conference sponsored by the EastWest Institute entitled, “Seizing the Moment : Breakthrough Measures to Build a New East/West Consensus on Weapons of Mass Destruction and  Disarmament.” More than two decades after President Ronald Reagan and President Mikhail Gorbachev seriously discussed the abolition of nuclear weapons at Rejkjavik, Iceland, there is renewed bipartisan attention being given to the pursuit of a “world free of nuclear weapons.” This is the objective set forth by former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, former Secretary of Defense William Perry and  former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn in two Op-Ed pieces in the Wall Street Journal in January 2007 and January 2008.

Dr. Kissinger convened the opening panel, which included experts from China, Pakistan, India, the United States, as well as Dr. Mohamed El Baradei, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Dr. El Baradei highlighted the need for concrete action, based on already existing treaties. Nuclear states must actively work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons; not an increase in their number, nor enhanced capability. And, he added, the United States and Russia must lead the way.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke of the need for a global initiative to build consensus, and to re-think international security priorities. A world free of nuclear weapons, and of all weapons of mass destruction, is a “global public good of the highest order.” Mr. Ban reminded those present that last year global military expenditures exceeded $1.3 trillion. “By any definition, this has been a huge investment of financial and technical resources that could have had many other productive uses.” When placed within the global crises of food security, fuel, finances and climate change, and  the devastating impact of these realities on the least developed nations, Africa, in particular, the conversation is clearly a moral imperative. As long as this level of military spending continues, the hoped-for achievement of the Millenium Development Goals for the eradication of poverty will be a distant dream.

As any other human institution, the United Nations has its own particular shortcomings. Nonetheless, it is the only global forum where the desires of the world for peace and security are given pride of place. The late visionary and humanitarian Sri Chinmoy wrote beautifully of his hopes for the United Nations and a peaceful world. I close with some of his words of wisdom :
                    
“To me, the United Nations is great.
Why? Because it has high principles.
To me, the United Nations is good.
Why? Because it leaves no stone unturned
To transform these principles into living realities.”

Margaret Mayce, OP (DLC/Amityville)
NGO in Special Consultative Status
at the United Nations
Dominican Leadership Conference
211 East 43 St. Rm 910
New York, NY 10017
email: Margaret Mayce, OP