Does the UN Still Matter for America?

By Rob Schwarzwalder Published on October 15, 2017

President Trump has done something exceptional.

No, I’m not talking about his over-the-top tweets or his blunt talk about North Korea. 

On Thursday of last week, he pulled the U.S. out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Critics of the president’s decision are upset. Who can be against education, science and culture? 

The Trump administration is for all of these things. It’s just not for UNESCO, which uses its important-sounding name to continually attack Israel and advocate for the “Palestine Authority.” 

UNESCO’s Loss

The U.S. stopped payments to UNESCO in 2011. Reports Sohrab Ahmari in Commentary, “Washington cut off American dollars for UNESCO under a Bill Clinton-era law that prohibits the U.S. government from funding any U.N. agency that admits a non-state as a member. American funding, once accounting for more than one-fifth of UNESCO’s budget, hasn’t been restored since 2011. The agency has lost out on some $600 million as a result.”

As recently as May of this year, UNESCO passed a resolution referring to Jerusalem “occupied Palestine.” The measure “passed with 22 countries in favor, 23 abstentions, 10 opposed, and the representatives of three countries absent.” Now, there’s moral courage for ya!

“UNESCO refers to the Temple Mount (Solomon’s Temple) as ‘Haram al-Sharif’ and the Western Wall as the Al-Buraq Plaza (‘Buraq’ being the mythical flying horse with a woman’s head that Islamic tradition says took Mohammed up to heaven for a visit). This phenomenon has become known as temple denial,” writes A.J. Caschetta, Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum and a senior lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Usual Suspects

Americans who care about Israel — that should be all of us, although, of course, it sadly is not — should applaud the President’s bold action. Of course, the usual suspects are upset. These are the elegant internationalists who intone earnestly about the need for “dialog” as groups like Hezbollah and Hamas do all the evil they can.

International Organizations

This all points to a larger issue. America’s involvement in a host of international organizations is troubling, to say the least. From the U.N., the International Monetary Fund, and NATO to much more specialized groups like the International Hydrographic Organization and the Universal Post Union, Uncle Sam is quite the global clubman. 

And he is — we are — also something of a groupie. America is a member of the Groups of Five (G5), Seven (G7), Eight (G8), Ten (G10), and Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

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The question is this: Does membership in the vast array of international organizations help or impede American security and vital interests? This has to be taken on a case-by-case basis, of course, but can anyone really point to any genuine benefit to America’s membership in the United Nations? Quite frankly, the U.N. needs us or, more to the point our money. We don’t need the U.N.

No Business As Usual

As our ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley is doing a great job. She’s unapologetically standing up for America. And to his credit, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson trimmed the American delegation to this past summer’s U.N. General Session to half of what it was under the previous administration. Perhaps this was an insufficient number, but it makes the point that the current administration does not intend business as usual at the U.N.

The World Listens

When America speaks, the countries of the world listen. The U.N. might provide a convenient place for us to highlight the wrongdoings of the world’s bad actors, but is it really necessary? America has access to diplomats, heads of state, and political leaders of all kinds whenever it is needed. We have multitudes of embassies and legations all over the world. And when America’s leaders make public statements, the ears of the world tune-in.

What of international peace-keeping missions and food aid? Again: America can participate in such missions whenever requested and, then, when U.S. policymakers decide we should join in the effort. As to American food aid, our generosity saves hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives annually. We need no international intermediary to help us.

International Discussion

Of course, the U.N. can serve some useful functions. If nothing else, it is a one-stop shop for international discussion. But America and her allies do not need the United Nations to talk among themselves. Existing alliances based on the well-being of America and her friends already serve this purpose. And we can build friendships with whatever nations we wish. But as a forum for spies and infiltration and a place where the world’s crackpots and tyrants can give voice to their harebrained evil, the U.N. has no place in our country.

Trump’s Patriotism

In his address last month, President Trump did the unthinkable: He challenged the conventional wisdom of the international elites by proclaiming that patriotism and national sovereignty mattered. As he said,

The true question for the United Nations today — for people all over the world who hope for a better life for themselves and their children — is a basic one: Are we still patriots? Do we love our nations enough to protect their sovereignty and take ownership of their futures? Do we revere them enough to defend their interests, preserve their cultures and ensure a peaceful world for their citizens?

Critics accuse Mr. Trump of a vulgar nationalism. I think he was simply talking about what he said he was: Patriotism. The continued importance of secure borders. The assimilation of various peoples into an existing society as opposed to that culture having to jettison its own culture to conform to that of the new arrivals.

This is not radical. It is not bigoted. It is common sense, especially for the president of the one indispensable nation on earth. A nation united as 50 states, without need for any international organization to lobby on its behalf.

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