text: study the question of the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in South-East Asia. Those actions, as well as the fact that Singapore has supported many United Nations resolutions on arms control and disarmament emanating from the First Committee, testifies to our continuing desire to work towards a better and safer world. Much has been said in this Committee and other international forums about the central issue facing mankind today, namely, the danger of a nuclear conflagration arising out of the nuclear arms race and the corresponding need to take measures to lessen, or better, to eliminate, this danger. However, events in the past 40 years since the birth of the United Nations point to another picture which, in my view, corresponds more to reality than the persistent allusion to the danger of a nuclear holocaust. BHS/gt A/C.l/40/PV.4 52 (Mr. Cheang, Singapore) According to the report of the Secretary-General on the study on concepts of security, document A/40/553, dated 26 August 1985, more than 150 armed conflicts have taken place since 1945, costing the lives of between 16 and 25 million people. One should also not forget the loss in terms of economic infrastructure and the damage to prospects for economic growth, not to mention the trauma that was experienced and indeed is still being experienced. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has estimated that the global refugee population totals some 8 million; millions more for whom no accurate count is possible may be displaced within their own countries. The question is now: Has this unparalleled tragedy in recent human history been caused by a nuclear conflagration or even by the consequences flowing from the threat of a nuclear war? The answer, I would submit, is obviously no. No nation is blind to the unimaginable consequences for mankind of the 
analysis: The text primarily discusses international relations, disarmament, and humanitarian issues, with a focus on the impact of armed conflicts on human lives and economic development. While it touches upon global concerns and the threat of nuclear war, it does not specifically address economic development, natural resources, or environmental issues.