“The Post-Cold War Era”

A noteworthy factor was a meeting of the 35-nation Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In September 1986 they signed what is called the Stockholm Document, reaffirming their commitment to the 1975 Helsinki Agreement.a The Stockholm Document contains many rules to govern the monitoring of military activities. “The results of the past three years are encouraging and the level of implementation is beginning to exceed the written obligations of the Stockholm Document,” reported SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in its Yearbook 1990.

Then, in 1987, the superpowers reached a remarkable agreement requiring the destruction of all their ground-launched missiles with ranges between 300 and 3,400 miles [500 and 5,500 km]. “The physical destruction of missiles and launchers is on schedule and the stipulations of the agreements are being duly observed by each side,” says SIPRI.

Other measures have been taken to reduce the risk of nuclear war. For example, in 1988 the superpowers signed an agreement regarding “intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.” Before launching such weapons, each side must notify the other “no less than twenty-four hours in advance, of the planned date, launch area, and area of impact.” According to SIPRI, such agreements “virtually eliminate the possibility of local incidents escalating to a world-wide nuclear war.”

Meanwhile, plans to improve international security gathered speed. In May 1990, during a superpower summit in Washington, D.C., then Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev proposed that the two blocs of European nations sign a peace treaty. In July the 16 Western nations of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) met in London. Their response to Mikhail Gorbachev’s proposal was that both sides sign a “joint declaration in which we solemnly state that we are no longer adversaries and confirm our intention to refrain from the threat or use of force.” The front-page headline of an African newspaper described this as “A Giant Step to World Peace.”

Then, on the eve of a superpower summit in Helsinki, Finland, a U.S. government spokesman said that “the prospect of war [in the Middle East] is forging a new group plan for world peace.” Peace had received a setback when Iraq invaded Kuwait and the Middle East seemed in danger of going up in flames. But under United Nations authority, an international force led by the United States drove the invading forces back into their own country. The international unity of purpose manifested in that war encouraged some to hope that a new era of cooperation had dawned.

Since then, world events have developed further. In particular, the very nature of what was once the Soviet Union changed dramatically. The Baltic States were allowed to declare their independence, and other republics in the Soviet Union followed suit. Violent ethnic rivalries surfaced in lands that had seemed monolithic under the centralized Communist control. By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union had officially ceased to exist.

These radical changes on the world political scene have opened the door of opportunity for the United Nations organization. In this regard The New York Times said: “The easing of worldwide tensions and the new spirit of cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union could mean a new, more powerful role in international affairs for the world organization.”