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1 - How much does the United States pay?
Want to hear more from Ben Samuels and Ryan Ray? Support the show by subscribing to the War Room Newsletter where Ben and Ryan both publish regular opinion pieces.
Get a 30-day free trial here -> https://warroommedia.substack.com/DLTF
The U.S. government contributed just over $10 billion to the United Nations in 2018, the most recent fiscal year with full data available. About two-thirds of this total was voluntary and one-third was assessed. This represents roughly one-fifth of the $50 billion the United States spends annually on foreign aid. By comparison, that is about what the government allocates annually to the U.S. Coast Guard.
For example, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which previously relied on the United States for about one-third of its budget, said it would be forced to cut 250 jobs in 2018 after the Trump administration halted contributions to the agency. In a September 2018 letter [PDF], more than thirty U.S. senators warned the administration that the cuts could prevent 140,000 people from receiving food aid and more than 70,000 people from accessing clean water, though European and Gulf donors have helped to make up for the shortfall.
And in May 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration announced that the United States would withdraw from the WHO completely—a move that would deprive the agency of nearly $900 million biennially—over concerns about Chinese influence. However, some legal experts have argued Trump doesn’t have the authority to pull out of the international body without congressional approval.
Is this a new debate?
Past U.S. presidents and lawmakers have sought to decrease payments to the United Nations. In the late 1990s, for example, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) led an effort to force reforms at the United Nations by withholding U.S. contributions. The United States nearly lost its vote in the General Assembly as millions of dollars in unpaid assessments accrued. The instability ended in 2001 with a compromise between Congress and the United Nations. The deal, struck by Helms and then Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), reduced the U.S. share of the UN administrative budget from 25 percent to 22 percent.”
https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/un-turns-seventy-five-heres-how-make-it-relevant-again
https://www.vox.com/22187132/joe-biden-united-nations-china-trump
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/oct/28/12-steps-to-a-more-effective-un
https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29352/how-to-make-diplomacy-more-effective-and-inclusive-in-the-new-age-of-pluralism
Get a 30-day free trial here -> https://warroommedia.substack.com/DLTF
The U.S. government contributed just over $10 billion to the United Nations in 2018, the most recent fiscal year with full data available. About two-thirds of this total was voluntary and one-third was assessed. This represents roughly one-fifth of the $50 billion the United States spends annually on foreign aid. By comparison, that is about what the government allocates annually to the U.S. Coast Guard.
For example, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which previously relied on the United States for about one-third of its budget, said it would be forced to cut 250 jobs in 2018 after the Trump administration halted contributions to the agency. In a September 2018 letter [PDF], more than thirty U.S. senators warned the administration that the cuts could prevent 140,000 people from receiving food aid and more than 70,000 people from accessing clean water, though European and Gulf donors have helped to make up for the shortfall.
And in May 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration announced that the United States would withdraw from the WHO completely—a move that would deprive the agency of nearly $900 million biennially—over concerns about Chinese influence. However, some legal experts have argued Trump doesn’t have the authority to pull out of the international body without congressional approval.
Is this a new debate?
Past U.S. presidents and lawmakers have sought to decrease payments to the United Nations. In the late 1990s, for example, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) led an effort to force reforms at the United Nations by withholding U.S. contributions. The United States nearly lost its vote in the General Assembly as millions of dollars in unpaid assessments accrued. The instability ended in 2001 with a compromise between Congress and the United Nations. The deal, struck by Helms and then Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), reduced the U.S. share of the UN administrative budget from 25 percent to 22 percent.”
https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/un-turns-seventy-five-heres-how-make-it-relevant-again
https://www.vox.com/22187132/joe-biden-united-nations-china-trump
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/oct/28/12-steps-to-a-more-effective-un
https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29352/how-to-make-diplomacy-more-effective-and-inclusive-in-the-new-age-of-pluralism
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By Ryan RayWant to hear more from Ben Samuels and Ryan Ray? Support the show by subscribing to the War Room Newsletter where Ben and Ryan both publish regular opinion pieces.
Get a 30-day free trial here -> https://warroommedia.substack.com/DLTF
The U.S. government contributed just over $10 billion to the United Nations in 2018, the most recent fiscal year with full data available. About two-thirds of this total was voluntary and one-third was assessed. This represents roughly one-fifth of the $50 billion the United States spends annually on foreign aid. By comparison, that is about what the government allocates annually to the U.S. Coast Guard.
For example, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which previously relied on the United States for about one-third of its budget, said it would be forced to cut 250 jobs in 2018 after the Trump administration halted contributions to the agency. In a September 2018 letter [PDF], more than thirty U.S. senators warned the administration that the cuts could prevent 140,000 people from receiving food aid and more than 70,000 people from accessing clean water, though European and Gulf donors have helped to make up for the shortfall.
And in May 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration announced that the United States would withdraw from the WHO completely—a move that would deprive the agency of nearly $900 million biennially—over concerns about Chinese influence. However, some legal experts have argued Trump doesn’t have the authority to pull out of the international body without congressional approval.
Is this a new debate?
Past U.S. presidents and lawmakers have sought to decrease payments to the United Nations. In the late 1990s, for example, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) led an effort to force reforms at the United Nations by withholding U.S. contributions. The United States nearly lost its vote in the General Assembly as millions of dollars in unpaid assessments accrued. The instability ended in 2001 with a compromise between Congress and the United Nations. The deal, struck by Helms and then Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), reduced the U.S. share of the UN administrative budget from 25 percent to 22 percent.”
https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/un-turns-seventy-five-heres-how-make-it-relevant-again
https://www.vox.com/22187132/joe-biden-united-nations-china-trump
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/oct/28/12-steps-to-a-more-effective-un
https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29352/how-to-make-diplomacy-more-effective-and-inclusive-in-the-new-age-of-pluralism
Get a 30-day free trial here -> https://warroommedia.substack.com/DLTF
The U.S. government contributed just over $10 billion to the United Nations in 2018, the most recent fiscal year with full data available. About two-thirds of this total was voluntary and one-third was assessed. This represents roughly one-fifth of the $50 billion the United States spends annually on foreign aid. By comparison, that is about what the government allocates annually to the U.S. Coast Guard.
For example, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which previously relied on the United States for about one-third of its budget, said it would be forced to cut 250 jobs in 2018 after the Trump administration halted contributions to the agency. In a September 2018 letter [PDF], more than thirty U.S. senators warned the administration that the cuts could prevent 140,000 people from receiving food aid and more than 70,000 people from accessing clean water, though European and Gulf donors have helped to make up for the shortfall.
And in May 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration announced that the United States would withdraw from the WHO completely—a move that would deprive the agency of nearly $900 million biennially—over concerns about Chinese influence. However, some legal experts have argued Trump doesn’t have the authority to pull out of the international body without congressional approval.
Is this a new debate?
Past U.S. presidents and lawmakers have sought to decrease payments to the United Nations. In the late 1990s, for example, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) led an effort to force reforms at the United Nations by withholding U.S. contributions. The United States nearly lost its vote in the General Assembly as millions of dollars in unpaid assessments accrued. The instability ended in 2001 with a compromise between Congress and the United Nations. The deal, struck by Helms and then Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), reduced the U.S. share of the UN administrative budget from 25 percent to 22 percent.”
https://www.cfr.org/councilofcouncils/global-memos/un-turns-seventy-five-heres-how-make-it-relevant-again
https://www.vox.com/22187132/joe-biden-united-nations-china-trump
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/oct/28/12-steps-to-a-more-effective-un
https://www.cfr.org/article/funding-united-nations-what-impact-do-us-contributions-have-un-agencies-and-programs
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29352/how-to-make-diplomacy-more-effective-and-inclusive-in-the-new-age-of-pluralism