Foreign Policy magazine reports the Trump administration will cut the U.S. State Department’s budget by 40 per cent which will lead it to cut funding to the United Nations by more than half. The U.S. spends about $10 billion yearly on the UN.
The first casualty will be the world’s poorest
Such a massive funding cut will have profound and wide-ranging effects and it could bring a seismic shift in world politics resulting in “a much less secure…world,” says a former Canadian ambassador.
The magazine reports the U.S. administration may cut humanitarian aid programs by 36 per cent. “The most immediate effects (of the budget cut) are going to be on the poorest people who can least afford the harm that’s going to come to them,” says Paul Heinbecker, a former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations.
He notes East Africa is undergoing its worst famine since World War II and there are 20 million refugees that need help from already-underfunded UN agencies. The U.S. provided more than a quarter of the UN refugee agency’s budget last year.
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Cuts to peacekeeping, atomic monitoring predicted
Beyond that, Heinbecker says there would be cuts to peacekeeping operations that endeavour to enhance stability and prevent terrorism, and cuts to the UN’s atomic agency which monitors countries’ nuclear programs to ensure they are not making nuclear weapons.
There is great concern about the Trump administration’s apparent retreat from international leadership. “The international system was created by the United States…in order to set the rules of the road and to enshrine, essentially, American values as the inspiration of international cooperation,” says Heinbecker.
‘Rules of the jungle instead of rules of the road’
“That is now all at risk. The United States seems to be retreating, prefers to try to deal with countries one on one where its power is perhaps more decisive. But in doing that it’s leaving open leadership internationally to the Chinese, to the Russians and to others.
“And so we’re heading into a world where the United States is going to be less able to protect…and promote its interests. It’s going to be the rules of the jungle instead of the rules of the road.”
Diplomat is ‘very worried’
Canada and other countries will be asked to increase funding to the UN to try to make up some of the loss. Other consequences of drastically reduced U.S. funding will mean international organizations will not work as well and U.S. consulates abroad may be reduced.
“I am very worried,” says Heinbecker. “I think these are decisions that are being made on the basis of bad instincts and biases. We’re going to see the UN deprecated by the U.S. We’re going to see diplomacy downgraded by the U.S. while it emphasizes military spending. I think…all in all, it’s going to produce a much less secure world and a more risky world for Canadians.”
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