The fact that the united Nations has not lived up to the expectations of 1945 with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security is not becauase the system devised by the framers of the Charter in San Francisco was fundamentally flawed. It is because of the breakdown of the consensus among the major Powers that was to be the basis of the collective security system envisaged in the Charter . Inside the United Nations the breakdown of that consensus has led to the virtual paralysis of the Security Council on many major issues. Outside , it has led to a relentless drive by the major Powers to safeguard their security by the accumulation of more and even more technically advanced weapons -especially nuclear weapons. BG/10 A/C.l/40/PV.5 39-40 (Mr. McDowell, New zealand) Nuclear weapons may have helped to sustain an uneasy global peace for the past 40 years, but the numbers of those weapons and their level of sophistication have reached the point where ordinary people everywhere increasingly questio~ whether any deterrent value they may have is not outweighed by the threat they represent to the whole of mankind. They also threaten to place an intolerable strain on the international order established by this Organization. As my Deputy Prime Minister said in the General Assembly three weeks ago: " ••• the continued development of this weapon over the lifetime of our Organization has in fact succeeded in distorting the fabric of international life. In our own experience it conditions the sovereign freedoms we had thought in 1945 were once and for all assured to us. At the very least as policies of power are pursued it has impinged on standards of international morality and behaviour." (A/40/PV.7, p. 59-60) JSM/gmr A/C.l/40/PV.S 41 (Mr. McDowell, New zealand) From the first days of the United Nations efforts have been made to reduce the 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the failure of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security, specifically highlighting the proliferation of nuclear weapons and its impact on international relations. It also touches on the distortion of international life and the impingement on standards of international morality and behavior. Based on this, it is likely that the text is related to international security and diplomacy.

**Category**
International security, Humanitarian aid and relief