Page 72 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

leadership. Nobody has a monopoly for quality of foreign policy and
diplomacy. The contribution of the State to collective diplomacy depends
upon its traditions and culture, as well as the abilities of the individuals who
determine and conduct foreign affairs.

22. The conduct of collective leadership is not an easy task. In fact, this is
an entirely new phenomenon in the history of international relations. It will
require the further democratization of the UN's major bodies; it will also
require the improvement and refining of techniques of multilateral interaction.
Responsibility should become a catchword for collective leadership in our
turbulent times. And last but not least, it should be based on moral
assumptions different from those which governed the actions of the political
leaders of the past.

23. I would like especially to emphasize the moral aspects of collective
leadership. It seems that human civilization has reached a stage in its
development where moral considerations, as well as ethics in general, can and
should become the driving force in international politics. There is nothing that
unites people more than the common understanding of what is evil and what is
good. And there is nothing that divides them more than a separate group or
national ethical norms which deprive an alien of human dignity and the right to
be treated as an equal. Very often, the importance of morals in social processes
is underestimated. Some schools of thought even insist that morality has
nothing to do with political reality. World affairs are considered to be the realm
of power, coercion and conducting national interests. In fact, this has never
been true.

24. From time immemorial, morality has had a considerable impact on
foreign policy. The most cruel conquerors acted within the framework of their
value system and always justified their deeds by references to ethical norms.
Even during the darkest periods of human history, it was a rare aggressor who
admitted that he had attacked his neighbour simply out of greed or for any
other immoral motive.

25. The interdependence of the contemporary world stretches further than
just economic and social spheres covering ethics as well. For centuries,
humankind has shared some basic moral values. The Ten Commandments in
Judaism and Christianity, Shariah in Islam, as well as ethical codes of many
other religions and spiritual teachings, contain sets of essentially similar rules of
behaviour which have eternal value and are applicable both to individuals and

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