Page 70 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition
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100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International
However, the UN cannot - and was never intended to - solve all the problems
of the international community or to play the starring role in every political
drama. Its major aim is to initiate, encourage and to harmonize the actions of
States in the interests of peace, stability and the well-being of their people.
16. The second layer comprises the transcontinental arrangements. Some
of these, such as the Non-Aligned Movement or the Group of 77, have been in
existence for many years. Today, the Conference on Security and Co-operation
in Europe has obtained these dimensions. Although the CSCE has at last
proclaimed itself to be a regional organization, today it incorporates members
not only from Europe but also from North America and Asia and covers half of
the Northern hemisphere. Recently, Japan has also become a member with
observer status. This organization stretches from Vladivostok to Vancouver,
from Murmansk to Malta and from Dublin to Dushanbe. The most important
feature of the CSCE and other intercontinental organizations is that they are
not formed on the basis of economic interests. Among CSCE members, for
example, are the most advanced industrial nations of the world, which for the
European Union, as well as developing countries such as some of the Asian
republics of the former Soviet Union. This is a positive trend because such
intercontinental structures may help to overcome the dangerous tendency to
divide of the world into rich and poor, developed North and underdeveloped
South.
17. The third layer includes the bodies which I would call classical regional
organizations, such as the Organization of African Unity, the Organization of
American States, etc. Today some of these organizations, in particular the old
ones, are in the process of transition and the search for a new role in the
changing international environment. This is true, for example, with regard to
NATO which, although a ready-made mechanism for action, is still searching
for its new identity. The idea of partnership for peace is a guideline for the
adaptation of NATO to new realities. Of course, it is necessary to have a well-
calculated timetable for its implementation. No less importantly, that
partnership for peace should be outstretched not only to the East but also to
neutral European countries which are in the same power vacuum. The
transformed NATO could become the backbone of pan-European security,
closely linked with the CSCE.
18. Finally, the last layer is the subregional organizations. This layer, as well
as that of regional organizations, is the fastest growing. ln particular, in Europe
in recent years, a large number of new regional and sub-regional organizations
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