"An understanding of assumptions and perceptions and an attempt to relate them to actual situations is an urgent task. This is not to imply that all threats, and all perceptions of threats and hostility, are imaginary and unrelated to facts. On the contrary, nations do undoubtedly face threats to their security, and in the absence of a reliable system of international security they do still require a minimum level of armaments to ensure their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is essential however to distinguish between actual threats and those which relate mostly to assumptions and perceptions. This is what UNIDIR, through this study, has attempted to do." - Liviu Bota, first Director of UNIDIR