SriLanka, May 9 -- "A new world order must be built to ensure economic justice and equal political security for all nations. An end to the arms race is an essential prerequisite for the establishment of such an order.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of those words from the Soviet-Indian Delhi Declaration, signed in 1986 during Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to India and his talks with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. It was one of the first major documents of the late Cold War era to openly speak of the need for a 'new world order'.

At the time, the Soviet leadership believed this order would emerge through what it called 'new political thinking'. The idea was that former adversaries would abandon confrontation and combine the best elements...