already yielded many useful lessons for negotiating theory and practice, lessons that it still remains to understand. Unfortunately, on many other items of the Conference's agenda there is still no unanimity even as regards the topics and goals of the negotiations, but that does not mean that unanimity cannot be achieved at all. The search for points of convergence is one of the main tasks of the Conference on Disarmament and to a large extent determines its raison d'etre. The Conference on Disarmament is also a suitable forum for discussions on how to impart greater dynamism to the process of disarmament, how to make it more comprehensive, purposeful and conducive to the creation in the world of a stable situation in which the threat of war would be reduced to a minimum and ultimately eliminated. For in the final analysis disarmament is not an end in itself, but merely one of the means of building a secure world. In this connection, the need to enhance the effectiveness of the Conference is today more pressing than ever before. We consider this to mean giving the Conference additional capability to identify and seek to resolve problems. With this in mind, we believe that we should move towards greater flexibility and at the same time greater discipline. CD/PV.563 6 (Mr. Batsanov. USSR) A start could be made with relatively simple measures on which, to our mind, areas of agreement and mutual understanding are already coming to light. In our view, these include the proposal by the Western Group to change our forum's schedule of work. In principle the Soviet delegation supports this proposal. It would enable the time to be used more rationally and would also create additional possibilities for consultations and preparation of new instructions. Of course, the significance of this measure should not be 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the Conference on Disarmament and its goals, focusing on the need for greater flexibility and discipline to achieve disarmament. It mentions the need to identify and resolve problems, and proposes changes to the forum's schedule of work to make better use of time. This suggests that the topic is related to international relations, diplomacy, and conflict resolution, rather than a specific economic or social issue.

**Category**
International relations, Culture (as the text is discussing international diplomacy and cooperation, but does not fit squarely into any other category)