Few issues will rattle a conservative's cage more than U.S. funding of the United Nations.
Giving money to foreigners is bad enough. But giving money to foreigners who don't like us very much? Eeesh.
As originally envisioned, the UN as a vehicle to settle conflicts and protect the peace has been a dismal failure. It can fairly be said that the UN has started far more wars than it has ended.
As far as its affiliated organizations, there is much to be critical of.
The U.N. Population Fund says, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA’s workforce.” Joe Biden restored funding to the agency after Trump severely cut the U.S. contribution because of its abortion policies. Any organization that sees abortion as a form of "population control" doesn't deserve U.S. dollars.
It doesn't stop there, of course. As far as our payments to the UN go, only about one-sixth of funding goes to paying mandatory dues for international organizations. The rest is voluntary.
DOGE should begin by ending voluntary contributions to agencies that have adopted DEI or gender ideology agendas. Federal law already requires defunding U.N.-affiliated international organizations that accept Palestine as a member state. The failure, since the Obama administration, to enforce this law has undermined American credibility at the U.N.
Since the rest of the world sees the U.S. as an easy mark, our credibility couldn't get much lower.
It is impossible to quit entities like Unrwa, which Mr. Trump defunded this week, because they are U.N. subsidiaries rather than free-standing entities. While defunding them is necessary, past aid cuts have been reversed by subsequent Democratic administrations. Such agencies can ride out a liquidity squeeze.
The liberal left screams that defunding these organizations would lead to the collapse of the international order... or something. The sinecured workers who take U.S. tax dollars and do little or nothing while lowly aid workers do the real work can afford to be anti-American. Discomforting them would be a worthy goal.
Durable reform involves ending the U.S. relationship, as Mr. Trump has already done with the World Health Organization. Because these are treaty organizations, rejoining would be subject to congressional approval. DOGE and the State Department should review U.S. membership in these organizations with the same determination to make permanent cuts that they have shown domestically. Take one example: The International Labor Organization has been around since the League of Nations, despite massive changes in the global economy and labor relations. But the ILO has kept up with the times by embracing DEI and LGBT issues.
The largest contributions to peacekeeping operations come from the U.S. to the tune of about $1.8 billion. This includes funding for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has aided Hezbollah in bringing arms and missiles into Lebanon.
Peacekeeping is the jewel in the crown of the U.N. system, evoking nostalgia for the original vision of the U.N. as an army that stops bad guys around the world. Starting by canceling a few of these missions may be one of the few ways the Trump administration could show the secretariat that there will be consequences for failing to reform.
If the UN is going to be an aid agency, let it reform its aid operations. If it's going to be a peacekeeping force, let it do that.
But trying to do both has resulted in the ghastly hybrid organization we call "the United Nations." While many of its affiliates do good and necessary work, major surgery is required to reform these organizations and make them worthy of U.S. dollars.
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