Lack in world order leads to conflict, inequalities, injustice, exploitation, unequal distribution and wastage of resources. Treaties and leagues have been concerned with specific problems, but despite this and the number of large intergovernmental organizations, there is little cohesiveness in world events. The threat of a new international anarchy has arisen because anarchy now co-exists with nuclear proliferation. According to the United Nations Secretary General, this new anarchy is an "armed force, both overt and covert, used and increasingly justified as a legitimate means of obtaining national objectives".
There were more than 40 non-nuclear conflicts underway in 1984. These conflicts were fought with highly sophisticated conventional weapons which have caused about 20 million deaths in wars since 1945, almost twice as many civilian as military.