It has also been asserted that the arms race can be attributed to lack of confidence and trust. That may be the case, but what we are also witnessing today is that the arms race-itself has become a major source of international tensions and conflicts. The current policy thinking prevailing among certain nuclear-weapon States is to place reliance on nuclear weapons for the prevention of a global war. we do not know if this precarious state of affairs has contributed at all to averting a global conflict, but it has certainly not prevented wars and conflicts of a regional character, which are indeed symptoms of the frailties of the present international system, and unless radical measures are taken by States that hold special responsibilities the point may be reached when decision makers may no longer be able to control events, and the consequences would be catastrophic. A crisis of planetary survival confronts all mankind. This inescapable dilemma of confronting the nuclear danger is a shared destiny of all nations and peoples . The foremost concern of States is the protection of their security interests. Between nations the notion of security is a subjective factor. For the super-Powers, security is projected as the increasing accumulation of nuclear weapons and the extension of their geopolitical interests. For the vast majority of States of the third world, security means the defence of their national sovereignty and independence and sustenance of their daily lives. This inequity of security creates a wide chasm that needs to be bridged, and in this context we NR/mh A/C.l/40/PV.ll 42 (Mr. Gyi, Burma) cannot fail to note what the Secretary-General mentioned in his report to the General Assembly at the fortieth session, which stated: "There can be no question that, at the global level, between the poles of 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the arms race, international tensions, and the threat of nuclear war, highlighting the need for radical measures to prevent catastrophic consequences. It also touches on the concept of security, which is a subjective factor for nations, and the inequity in security between superpowers and developing countries. These themes suggest that the text is related to international relations, security, and global governance.

**Category**
International relations, Security