WHY TRUMP SHOULD THANK U.N.
By working as ‘united nations,’ the U.S. doesn’t have to go it alone
Afew weeks before he was inaugurated, Donald Trump tweeted that the United Nations was “just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
What he said as president a few months later warrants equal attention: “We need the member states to come together ... to ensure that no one nation shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden militarily or financially. This is only fair to our taxpayers.”
On Monday, Trump talked about the need for U.N. reform and for other countries to step up and do their fair share. Today, he’ll have another opportunity to share his views on the organization in his first ever address at the U.N. General Assembly.
The U.S. pays roughly 25% of U.N. bills, or about $2.5 billion. It sounds like a lot, but that’s less than a 10th of 1% of our $4.1 trillion federal budget and a fair assessment based on our share of world gross domestic product.
It’s a worthwhile investment. By working through the U.N., we can ensure that other nations share the responsibilities of global security and humanitarian relief. The U.S. doesn’t have to go it alone.
PARTNERS AGAINST ISIS
The U.N.’s actions in Iraq are illustrative. Over the past 15 years, no country has cost more in U.S. blood and treasure than Iraq. Over the last several years, the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has occupied much of our national security discussion. What’s seldom mentioned is that in partnership with the U.S., the U.N. is involved in countering ISIS and ousting the terrorist group from Iraq.
In Mosul, before the ninemonth liberation battle even began, the U.N. helped lead one of the largest managed civilian evacuations in history — almost 1 million people. Now that the battle is over, the U.N. Development Program, with strong U.S. financial support, has been leading stabilization efforts to ensure that citizens in Mosul and many other areas have access to water, electricity, schools and hospitals.
This is a central element of the coordinated effort to keep ISIS out of newly liberated areas and prevent it from again getting a foothold within the country.
The U.N. is not only working with U.S. forces in Iraq, it also deploys U.N. peacekeepers to other global hot spots, which means the U.S. doesn’t have to put its own boots on the ground.
One example is in the Central African Republic, where I just saw firsthand the work of the U.N. and its peacekeeping force. This force, like all peacekeeping units, represents true burden-sharing. The U.N. mission in CAR has deployed 12,000 peacekeepers from 49 other countries to prevent mass atrocities and keep yet another nation from becoming a terrorist haven.
Deploying these troops is also far less expensive than having to utilize our own. Studies have shown that a U.N. peacekeeping mission is eight times cheaper for American taxpayers than deploying a U.S. force.
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Responding to the growing number of conflicts around the world — from Iraq to CAR — isn’t the only way the U.N. is supporting U.S. interests. A massive humanitarian crisis is swelling across Africa, threatening the lives of more than 20 million people. South Sudan, Nigeria, Yemen and Somalia are each facing looming famine.
True to our generous spirit, the U.S. has recognized the importance of doing its part to help these vulnerable millions, providing almost $1 billion to get food aid to those that need it most. The U.N. has been a key ally in this sprawling fight against starvation, with 13 million people receiving lifesaving aid each month.
In regions controlled by terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, the World Food Program is conducting airdrops and trucking supplies to areas where people have fled. Due to coordinated efforts by the U.S., non-profit organizations, donors and the U.N. system, famine has been kept at bay.
As Secretary- General Antonio Guterres noted, “This is a reminder that when we act together as united nations, we can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
The notion of working together as “united nations” is exactly what Trump should stress during his address to the 72nd U.N. General Assembly, because it is directly in line with what he has demanded of the U.N. and the international community.
By doing so, we can collectively ensure that no one country has to shoulder the load and that each country pays it fair share.
Membership in this type of club is well worth the fee.