Introduction. The international system in transition

Extract

‘The facts, data and analyses of various aspects of international security and the process of arms control and disarmament presented in this Yearbook lead to the following conclusions.

‘National and international security are multi-dimensional. Both security and defence in the policies of the great powers and many other states are perceived in a much broader sense than was formerly the case. They are no longer confined to the military dimension, although it is an essential component, but increasingly embrace such issues as economy, ecology, demography, communications, and the development of civilization and technology.

‘Threats and tensions, formerly of an inter-bloc character and largely concentrated along the East-West divide, are now evident in many regions, while the chief vectors of potential antagonisms are along the North-South line. . . .

‘. . . The security structures and institutions called into being in the cold war period with the aim of staving off conflicts between the blocs are not fully equal to the task of preventing the new type of conflicts. The transformation of security institutions and structures is still far from the desirable new international security system. As Boutros-Ghali noted: '[t]he different world that emerged when the cold war ceased is still a world not fully understood'. It is the moral duty of the scientific and intellectual communities to facilitate an understanding of the changed nature and the root causes of conflicts and to offer decision makers ways in which they may be peacefully solved. The considerations and data presented in this volume offer a modest contribution to this goal.’