US ‘investment’ in UN is for the common good

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley hailed a reduction in the United Nations’ biennial operating budget on Sunday, calling it “a big step in the right direction”. The US managed to negotiate a cut of more than $285 million in its contributions to the $5.396 billion budget for 2018-19 adopted by the UN General Assembly, with Haley declaring it meant the US “will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked”.

As her remarks came just a few days after more than 120 countries condemned the United States for its unilateral decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the implication was clear: The UN should support the US unconditionally if it wants its dollars.

That Washington regards the UN as a tool of US foreign policy was made evident by US President Donald Trump on Sept 18, when he said the US was “not seeing results in line with US investment”.

The world’s largest economy, the US is also the largest financial contributor to the UN — paying about 22 percent of the organization’s core budget and 28 percent of its peacekeeping budget — and Trump has previously threatened to make deep cuts to the US’ contributions if the UN failed to take a “bold stand” on the global mission he wants to define for it.

The US is in effect holding the UN to ransom on doing its bidding, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has admitted the cut in funding Trump was suggesting would create an “unsolvable problem” for the organization.

However, just because it is the biggest contributor to the UN does not give the US the mandate to impose its will on the intergovernmental body, which is tasked with promoting international cooperation and creating and maintaining international order, and whose 193 members, large and small, rich and poor, are supposed to have an equal say.

It is hypocritical for Washington to try to hide its intention by pointing an accusing finger at the UN for “inefficiency and overspending”, as it is already a consensus among its members that the organization needs to cut its bureaucracy and improve its efficiency to better shoulder its responsibilities for international peace and security.

And it is wrong for the US to trumpet and practice “dollar diplomacy” at the expense of the UN’s autonomy of action in pursuit of Trump’s “America First” strategy.