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47.

We Are All Shareholders in Peace

GRADUATION SPEECH
BY MR. VLADIMIR PETROVSKY
UNITED NATIONS UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA
ON THE OCCASION OF GRADUATION DAY CEREMONIES 1996
OF THE EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY

Montreux, Switzerland, Saturday, l5 June 1996

T he great philosopher and statesman, Francis Bacon, once said that

“knowledge is power.” What he knew to be true 400 years ago, is
today a much more widely accepted reality - so much so that the
era in which we live is known as “the Information Age.” The possession of, and
access to, information and the ability to analyse it are emerging as increasingly
decisive factors, not only as concerns succeeding in business, but also in design-
ing policies for social progress and enlightened and effective government. As
you take leave of this fine university and embark down your future paths, re-
member that both individually and collectively you have not only the ability
but also the duty to change things for the better.

Today we are faced with contradictory realities. On one hand, globalization
is taking place at a furious pace - economies are becoming ever more
interdependent capital markets are being increasingly internationalized, and
telecommunications are continuing to be more closely integrated. On the other
hand, localization is also emerging as a force to be reckoned with ethnic
divisions are creating fissures throughout previously unified lands, and intra-
State conflict is replacing inter-State warfare as the primary destabilizing factor
in international relations. Nation-States, the building block of the modern
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