Five days inside the contradictions of the United Nations

UNITED NATIONS: Only at the United Nations can a journalist walk through a corridor and suddenly find himself face to face with a prime minister, pause before a sculpture symbolising peace, read the words of a Persian poet written on a wall, and then rush outside to report on a protest against a war thousands of miles away. For five days, I lived inside that extraordinary contradiction while covering the high-level debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York. The official high-level week brought heads of state and government from around the world to the UN headquarters between September 22 and 26. The first thing one begins to notice at the United Nations is the art. There are sculptures, statues and works donated by countries that seem to confront you at every turn. They are reminders of peace, humanity, war and the hope that nations can somehow learn to live together. Even before you enter the United Nations, the place begins to tell its story. As you approach the Secretariat Building, you encounter Barbara Hepworth’s Single Form, the large abstract bronze standing beside the circular pool. Donated by Jacob Blaustein, it rises quietly against the building, its simple, powerful shape inviting a visitor to pause before entering a place where the world’s conflicts are debated. Nearby stands St. George Slaying the Dragon, a sculpture presented to the United Nations by the Soviet Union. The familiar image of St. George defeating the dragon takes on a different meaning here, surrounded by the flags and institutions of an organisation created in the aftermath of war. And then there is Antun Augustinčić’s Peace Monument, the mounted figure holding a sword and an olive branch. The Yugoslav/Croatian sculptor had wanted its silhouette to be visible from the East River, so that the idea of peace could announce itself even before a visitor reached the building. Further along is Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s Non-Violence, the bronze revolver with its barrel tied