The following reflection is from Erin Huber, a Pace University undergraduate who participated in the POL270 Global Politics of Disarmament and Arms Control class in Fall 2025. Students had the opportunity to engage in civic engagement assignments with disarmament advocacy efforts in the context of the UN General Assembly First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) meetings in New York City.
Growing up my mother would always tell me an old Greek proverb that goes “A society grows great when old men plant trees who shade they know they will never sit in.” It always made me think and I decided to major in Early Childhood Education to create a better future and convince future generations of the never-ending need for progress.
The first day of Dr. Matthew Breay Bolton’s Global Politics of Disarmament and Arms Control class I feared that I would be like a square peg in a round hole. Unlike many in the class I was not a Political Science or Peace and Justice Studies major and I did not know where my passion for education and youth representation would fit into the framework of the United Nations. These fears were only exacerbated as I walked into the doors of the General Assembly Building. I wondered how it would be within these meetings, and what I would take away from them.
But in the lobby stood a painting gifted to the UN by Mexico, a piece called “La Fraternidad” painted by Rufino Tamayo. It’s a truly remarkable piece, filled with rich reds, oranges, and yellows, depicting a group of people circling around a fire holding one another’s hands. When I looked up the piece, I found an explanation from Tamayo about the ideas behind his work: “I try to represent time, I should say rather, eternity, in which I hope brotherhood will prevail.”
In that moment, I felt all the pieces shift into place, and it made me realize the need for youth representation within the framework and proceedings of the UN so that we can help shape the future we will live in.
I have always found the inner workings of governmental and international agendas to be an enigma. I was never taught about American diplomacy or seen such a job description. The decisions of the United Nations General Assembly rarely crossed my news feed let alone my sightline. And what negotiations and conversations convened within the gated fence of the United Nations headquarters were found only in the depths of my imagination.
