pensable common house of the entire human family, through
which we will seek to realize our universal aspirations for peace,
cooperation and development. We therefore pledge our unstinting support
for these common objectives, and our determination to achieve them.(147)

In concluding this sequence of historic meetings, Mr. Annan addressed
himself to the assembled world leaders in surprisingly candid terms--terms
that, for many Baha'is, carried echoes of Baha'u'llah's stern admonition
to the now vanished kings and emperors who had been these leaders'
predecessors: "It lies in _your_ power, and therefore it is your
responsibility, to reach the goals that you have defined. Only _you_ can
determine whether the United Nations rises to the challenge."(148)

* * * * *

Despite the historic importance of the meetings and the fact that the
greater portion of humanity's political, civil and religious leadership
took part, the Millennium Summit made little impression on the public mind
in most countries. Generous media attention was given to certain of the
events, but few readers or listeners could fail to note the expression of
scepticism that characterized editorial treatment of the subject or the
air of doubt--even of cynicism--that crept into many of the news stories
themselves. This sharp disjunction between an event that could
legitimately claim to mark a major turning-point in human history, on the
one hand, and the lack of enthusiasm or even interest it aroused among
populations who were its supposed beneficiaries, on the other, was perhaps
the most striking feature of the millennium observations. It exposed the
depth of the crisis the world is experiencing at century's end, in which
the processes of both integration and disintegration that had gathered
momentum during the past hundred years seem to accelerate with each
passing day.

Those who long to believe the visionary statements of world leaders
struggle at the same time in the grip of two phenomena that undermine such
confidence. The first has already been considered at some length in these
pages. The collapse of society's moral foundations has left the greater
part of humankind floundering without reference points in a world that
grows daily more threatening and unpredictable. To suggest that the
process has nearly reached its end would be merely to raise false hopes.
One may appreciate that intense political efforts are being made,