from UN.org IV. Freedom from Fear Wars between States have become less frequent. But in the last decade internal wars have claimed more than 5 million lives, and driven many times that number of people from their homes. At the same time weapons of mass destruction continue to cast their shadow of fear. We now think of security less as defending territory, more in terms of protecting people. The threat of deadly conflict must be tackled at every stage: -Prevention. Conflicts are most frequent in poor countries, especially in those that are ill governed and where there are sharp inequalities between ethnic or religious groups. The best way to prevent them is to promote healthy and balanced economic development, combined with human rights, minority rights and political arrangements in which all groups are fairly represented. Also, illicit transfers of weapons, money, or natural resources must be forced into the limelight. -Protecting the vulnerable. We must find better ways to enforce international and human rights law, and ensure that gross violations do not go unpunished. -Addressing the dilemma of intervention. National sovereignty must not be used as a shield for those who wantonly violate the rights and lives of their fellow human beings. In the face of mass murder, armed intervention authorized by the Security Council is an option that cannot be relinquished. -Strengthening peace operations. The Millennium Assembly is invited to consider recommendations from a high-level panel the Secretary-General has established to review all aspects of peace operations. -Targeting sanctions. Recent research has explored ways to make sanctions "smarter", by targeting them better. The Security Council should draw on this research when designing and applying sanctions regimes in future. -Pursuing arms reductions. The Secretary-General urges Member States to control small arms transfers more rigorously; and to re-commit themselves to reducing the dangers both of existing nuclear weapons and of further proliferation. do you think they're following this guideline? discuss...