"Address to the UN General Assembly"
September 20, 1963
Introduction to Document
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty had long been a goal of President Kennedy. He vowed to end tests by the United States and encouraged other nations to follow suit. As issues with the Soviet Union intensified, Kennedy further encouraged the passage of such a resolution out of fear the Soviet Union might gain technology. The Cuban Missile Crisis proved a turning point for Premier Khrushchev and President Kennedy after they came dangerously close to nuclear war. President Kennedy represented a modern president in his new approach to disarmament. This was integral in Kennedy’s role in reducing conflict with the USSR.
Transcript Abridged
Today the clouds have lifted a little so that new rays of hope can break through. The pressures on West Berlin appear to be temporarily eased. Political unity in the Congo has been largely restored. A neutral coalition in Laos, while still in difficulty, is at least in being. The integrity of the United Nations Secretariat has been reaffirmed. A United Nations Decade of Development is under way. And, for the first time in 17 years of effort, a specific step has been taken to limit the nuclear arms race.
I refer, of course, to the treaty to ban nuclear tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and under water--concluded by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States--and already signed by nearly 100 countries. It has been hailed by people the world over who are thankful to be free from the fears of nuclear fallout, and I am confident that on next Tuesday at 10:30 o'clock in the morning it will receive the overwhelming endorsement of the Senate of the United States. The world has not escaped from the darkness. The long shadows of conflict and crisis envelop us still. But we meet today in an atmosphere of rising hope, and at a moment of comparative calm. My presence here today is not a sign of crisis, but of confidence. I am not here to report on a new threat to the peace or new signs of war. I have come to salute the United Nations and to show the support of the American people for your daily deliberations. For the value of this body's work is not dependent on the existence of emergencies-nor can the winning of peace consist only of dramatic victories. Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. And however undramatic the pursuit of peace, that pursuit must go on. Today we may have reached a pause in the cold war--but that is not a lasting peace. A test ban treaty is a milestone--but it is not the millennium. We have not been released from our obligations--we have been given an opportunity. And if we fail to make the most of this moment and this momentum-if we convert our new-found hopes and understandings into new walls and weapons of hostility--if this .pause in the cold war merely leads to its renewal and not to its end--then the indictment of posterity will rightly point its finger at us all. But if we can stretch this pause into a period of cooperation--if both sides can now gain new confidence and experience in concrete collaborations for peace--if we can now be as bold and farsighted in the control of deadly weapons as we have been in their creation-then surely this first small step can be the start of a long and fruitful journey. The task of building the peace lies with the leaders of every nation, large and small. For the great powers have no monopoly on conflict or ambition. The cold war is not the only expression of tension in this world-and the nuclear race is not the only arms race. Even little wars are dangerous in a nuclear world. The long labor of peace is an undertaking for every nation--and in this effort none of us can remain unaligned. To this goal none can be uncommitted. The reduction of global tension must not be an excuse for the narrow pursuit of self-interest. If the Soviet Union and the United States, with all of their global interests and clashing commitments of ideology, and with nuclear weapons still aimed at each other today, can find areas of common interest and agreement, then surely other nations can do the same--nations caught in regional conflicts, in racial issues, or in the death throes of old colonialism. Chronic disputes which divert precious resources from the needs of the people or drain the energies of both sides serve the interests of no one--and the badge of responsibility in the modern world is a willingness to seek peaceful solutions. It is never too early to try; and it's never too late to talk; and it's high time that many disputes on the agenda of this Assembly were taken off the debating schedule and placed on the negotiating table. The fact remains that the United States, as a major nuclear power, does have a special responsibility in the world. It is, in fact, a threefold responsibility--a responsibility to our own citizens; a responsibility to the people of the whole world who are affected by our decisions; and to the next generation of humanity. We believe the Soviet Union also has these special responsibilities--and that those responsibilities require our two nations to concentrate less on our differences and more on the means of resolving them peacefully. For too long both of us have increased our military budgets, our nuclear stockpiles, and our capacity to destroy all life on this hemisphere--human, animal, vegetable--without any corresponding increase in our security. Our conflicts, to be sure, are real. Our concepts of the world are different. No service is performed by failing to make clear our disagreements. A central difference is the belief of the American people in self-determination for all people. We believe that the people of Germany and Berlin must be free to reunite their capital and their country. We believe that the people of Cuba must be free to secure the fruits of the revolution that have been betrayed from within and exploited from without. In short, we believe that all the world--in Eastern Europe as well as Western, in Southern Africa as well as Northern, in old nations as well as new--that people must be free to choose their own future, without discrimination or dictation, without coercion or subversion. These are the basic differences between the Soviet Union and the United States, and they cannot be concealed. So long as they exist, they set limits to agreement, and they forbid the relaxation of our vigilance. Our defense around the world will be maintained for the protection of freedom--and our determination to safeguard that freedom will measure up to any threat or challenge. But I would say to the leaders of the Soviet Union, and to their people, that if either of our countries is to be fully secure, we need a much better weapon than the H-bomb--a weapon better than ballistic missiles or nuclear submarines--and that better weapon is peaceful cooperation. We have, in recent years, agreed on a limited test ban treaty, on an emergency communications link between our capitals, on a statement of principles for disarmament, on an increase in cultural exchange, on cooperation in outer space, on the peaceful exploration of the Antarctic, and on tempering last year's crisis over Cuba. I believe, therefore, that the Soviet Union and the United States, together with their allies, can achieve further agreements-agreements which spring from our mutual interest in avoiding mutual destruction. |
Questions for Discussion
1. What makes the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty a "milestone"?
2. How does the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty represent Kennedy's stance on foreign policy? 3. Did the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty usher in a new era of foreign policy? |
Sources
Kennedy, John F., "Address to the UN General Assembly", September 20, 1963, from the Miller Center, http://millercenter.org/president/kennedy/speeches/speech-5764 (accessed August 11, 2015).