Neil Tetkowski speaks about the Common Ground World Project and the United Nations

"One of the beauties of this project and one of the reasons I felt compelled to follow through with it, was that it gave me an opportunity to actually deal with issues that were far too threatening for me to deal with any other way;  issues about the environment, issues about world hunger, issues about how all of humanity is interacting with each other in terms of wealth, power, military. All these issues are far too threatening for me to deal with any other way. But in terms of this artwork, I thought, let me make a collaborative work that would inspire humanity toward unity, and that was something I could believe in, and that is why I followed through with it."

The artist with H. E. Ravan Farhadi, the Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Nations who participated in the Common Ground World Project. April 18, 2000

"The borders which divide the world into 192 (in 2007) unequal pieces are a clear reflection of the way the human species interacts. Blending these materials together is a powerful symbol to dissolve social, and political issues."

"In the context of our current domestic and international crisis, exhibiting these earth materials in various ways has tremendous potential, in fact more than I ever dreamed of."

Global Thoughts

The annual budget of the United Nations is less than three billion dollars. However, the world spends 800 billion dollars each year on military efforts. The United States is by far the biggest spender worldwide. Our budget and vision for peace is small compared to our budget for war.

Half of the world's six billion people live on less than $2/day and one in five people do not have clean water to drink. Today, 10% of children in developing countries die before the age of five.

Many nations have small economies, much smaller than large corporations and smaller than that of some wealthy individuals.

Some multinational corporations have armies, hired mercenaries to "protect" their interests.

Wal-Mart sales are larger than the gross domestic product of three-quarters of the world's national economies. ("The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping" Taschen 2002)

The report card of the human species still has a lot of room for improvement. In the year 2004 there are more than 800 million chronically hungry people. That works out to one in seven, or the equivalent of the entire population of Europe. In fact, every 3.6 seconds, someone dies of hunger.

September 11th was a terrible tragedy to be sure. A bigger tragedy quietly takes place on a daily basis. Ponder the 14,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases. (UNICEF)

Consider the purpose of the United Nations: To maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to achieve international cooperation in solving economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common ends.

The United Nations is a relatively new institution, established in 1945 with 51 members. It is the only world parliament. The United Nations is recognized as the central institution in the world for promoting international peace and security and the rule of law. The United Nations Charter is the legal cornerstone of international relations.

General Assembly Policy Positions: Each of the 191 UN Member States has one vote in the General Assembly, and unlike in the Security Council, the United States cannot veto a resolution. Many Americans and public officials have been offended by some policy positions taken by the UN General Assembly, for example regarding Israel. It is important to remember that policy conclusions with which some Americans may disagree will inevitably result from any democratically constituted international organization. Policy positions taken by the UN General Assembly reflect the positions of individual governments around the world, not the institution itself.

Clearly the American relationship with the UN has deteriorated over the past half century, driven by concerns over preserving national sovereignty, isolationist attitudes towards international law, negative attitudes towards certain countries and social systems, disagreements over UN efficiency and cost, and the frequent minority status of the US in the General Assembly.

Outstanding Dues to the UN: Urge your representatives in Congress to support a responsible policy for the United States to pay its dues to the United Nations, on time and in full, as a treaty obligation under the Charter.

Neil Tetkowski

Contact Tetkowski Studio:  e-mail

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