Seven Principles For A New International Moral Order

Paulos Mar Gregorios

The following seven principles could serve as a starting point for discussion among nations and peoples on the basis for a New International Moral Order (N.I.M.O.). They were presented at the concluding joint plenary session of the International Forum of Public Forces For a Nuclear Weapons Free World and For the Survival of Humanity, held in Moscow from February 14th to 16th 1987. They were presented on behalf of the Religious Forces Section of the Forum by Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios, Metropolitan of Delhi, India.

1. Each nation is a free, responsible member of the community of nations, and as much is bound to subordinate its national interests and national security to the interests of humanity as a whole and to common security for all nations and peoples.

2. As a corollary, it is morally wrong for one nation to seek military superiority over other nations, and to imperil the security of other nations in pursuing its own security.

3. Nuclear weapons are immoral. It is immoral to make, buy, sell, keep, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. They should therefore be totally eliminated and legally banned.

4. Outer space and the high seas should be kept free from all weapons, including nuclear, laser, particle beam or other devices. Space and the oceans should be held as the common property of humanity and as an arena for peaceful mutual co-operation among nations for the welfare of the whole of humanity.

5. Modern science and technology, the most powerful instruments in the hands of humanity, should be liberated from bondage to war and profit, and be deployed to serve the elimination of poverty and ill-hea1th, ignorance and cultural impoverishment.

6. Moral maturity demands that nations and groups within nations should not resort to war and violence in order to resolve conflicts. This entails an international commitment to a time-bound plan to reduce and finally eliminate all conventional and modern weapons and forces, and to evolve democratically controlled international institutions for peace-keeping, peaceful resolution of conflicts and common security.

7. International conventions and treaties are morally as well as legally binding and should not be violated or revoked unilaterally. These arguments are the foundations upon which a new international social-cultural and political-economic order can be constructed in which nations with differing political economic systems can live and work together in peaceful cooperation and healthy international competition.