The US is boasting about cuts to the UN budget – but will it come at a diplomatic cost?
‘No one in the White House seems to understand how to use the carrots of international diplomacy. It’s all sticks’
When the Trump administration in the US claimed credit this week for budget cuts at the United Nations, some critics of the organisation saw the prudent oversight of American taxpayers’ money, while others questioned Washington’s determination to be seen wielding a big stick.
And they warn that any savings could come at a diplomatic cost.
The US mission to the United Nations on Sunday hailed the operating budget of US$5.396 billion for 2018 and 2019, slightly less than the US$5.4 billion requested by Secretary General António Guterres. In a statement, the mission said the United States had negotiated US$285 million in cost savings as well as reducing “bloated” management and support functions.
This reflects a bias in the US administration … that the way to elicit compliance from both adversaries and allies is to browbeat them, threaten them and economically coerce them
Using a calculation based on the size of its economy, the United States pays 22 per cent of the UN’s operating budget, and 28 per cent of its peacekeeping operations. That makes it the largest contributor among member nations, followed by Japan, China, Germany, France and Britain.