past five years at a faster pace than in the preceding five years, and gives some terrifying statistics of the nuclear warheads being stockpiled by the super-Powers: approximately 6,000 megatons on one side and 4,000 megatons on the other, capable of blowing up the world many times over in a war that can never be won and which must therefore never be started. SIPRI finds that present levels of military expenditures , adjusted for world inflation, exceed $900 billion for the year 1985. Bearing in mind these considerations , and the fact that the transfer of military expenditures to development purposes can be a pragmatic measure that can JVM/16 A/C.l/ 40/PV. 5 68 (Mr. Albornoz, Ecuador) restore spiritual health to the human race, Ecuador , together with the other countries that sponsored by consensus resolution 3 9/160 last year, believes that ilie time has come for a detailed consideration of the link between disarmament and development and to convene for that purpose an international conference at a high political level. Thus development, a concept that has arisen from the operations of the United Nations system over the past 40 years, with its implications of national and . international justice , takes on additional importance as a basic aim of human co-operation, for which peace, disarmament and even collective security are necessary and contributing factors. In this way it would be possible to eliminate the danger of the absurd arms ·race, which is one of the main causes of the international economic crisis, which has a special effect on the poor countries, above all as far as conventional weapons are concerned. Both the aggressive nuclear-weapons escalation which threatens the survival of mankind and the conventional arms race promoted by the merchants of death have a continuing devastating effect, as can be seen in the persistence of international 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the dangers of nuclear war and the arms race, and proposes the idea of transferring military expenditures to development purposes as a way to promote disarmament and development. It highlights the importance of development as a basic aim of human cooperation, and how it can be achieved through peace, disarmament, and collective security.

**Category**
International trade, Economic development, Humanitarian aid and relief