And so, we begin an extraordinary journey of discovery into a new century and new millennium. Prophets and seers, rationalists and futurologists, warn of the dangers and speculate upon its likely wonders. Analysts in virtually every aspect of human activity offer predictions and estimates. Let us take most of it cum grano salis. Even as we step into the 21st century, it is still difficult to get the weather forecast right.
Yet even the dullest imagination must be stirred by the turning of a millennium. Man fixes his physical existence by the contours of the earth under his feet and by the framework of days which marks his mortal span. When the framework changes as dramatically as now (at least on the Christian calendar) even the most laggard spirit must be moved to contemplate, however momentarily, what lies ahead.
At the end of the 1890s a Victorian academic, imprisoned by the intellectual hubris of the age, declared that the 20th century would be an era without significant advances since all the great discoveries of science had been attained. Such a failure of imagination is unlikely today. For the 20th century has conditioned mankind to the conviction - at once uplifting and terrifying - that there are effectively no limits to knowledge.
It has been a century of immense attainment. And yet the human imagination runs far ahead of what has been achieved. It anticipates routine travel to other worlds and an end to the killer diseases of our time. It envisages information management and the application of artificial intelligence at levels to make today's computer systems appear primitive. It expects that the secrets of human genetics will be unlocked with the promise of a greatly extended lifespan for many. It envisages new sources of energy, perhaps through the exploration of other planets.
If the complex and wayward history of the race in the millennium now ending is anything to go by, it seems certain that many of the salient objectives will prove illusory. And amazing discoveries, yet undreamt of, will very likely materialise in their place - much as Columbus set off to find India and stumbled on America instead.
We have knowledge and advantages which should allow us to side with the visionaries and the optimists. As we leave the 20th century, we bring with us great and valuable lessons, learned with the blood and tears of our parents' and grandparents' generations. We know that tyrants extend their grasp when free people abandon their vigilance. Yet, we also know that wars start easily and are concluded with difficulty. We know that modern warfare, in its most terrible manifestation, can destroy the planet. And we know - because we have succeeded in preventing it for half a century - that global war is not inevitable.
We know that the earth holds limited natural resources and that seas, territories and whole countries can be devastated by abuse of the environment. We know that peoples can starve or die when they are abandoned by their wealthier brothers in the advanced economies. And we know that when the governments of the developed nations come together with common purpose they can prevent such disasters. They can feed the hungry and attend to the sick. They can avert wars and even put a stop to wars which have already begun.
We know, if a stable political climate can be created, that even traditionally poor peoples can create self-sustaining economic growth. It is widely expected that the 21st century will see many more nations, principally the Asian countries and much of Latin America, coming to levels of wealth which are now the norm in the Western world.
In short, we know that in co-operation and combination, mankind can survive and thrive on this planet. There are no objectives which it cannot attain if it truly wants to and if it is willing to recognise the universality of human needs. It is true that we enter a dangerous age. Weapons of mass destruction continue to proliferate. Potentially lethal forces are controlled by nations which are prisoners of extreme ideologies or which consider themselves vulnerable to economic or military threat.
But in happy contrast with our forebears 100 years ago, we enter the 21st century with structures of international law and co-operation in place which commit us to striving for universal co-operation and accommodation. They may be imperfect and slow. But they can be strengthened and made more effective with even small countries, such as this, playing their role. They must be our best hope for the future and they must be developed and built upon above all else.
Let us step then with hope into this new century. Let us do so with a renewed commitment to the universal brotherhood of mankind. Let us cherish our children and the children of all the planet. Let us resolve to protect this Earth which nurtures the race and let us determine that there will be lasting peace, justice and sufficient prosperity for all who inhabit it.