Better World Campaign
01/14/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/14/2025 16:40
What We’re Watching During This Week’s Capitol Hill Confirmation Hearings
Share
Cabinet confirmation hearings kick off this week on Capitol Hill, and we're following some of the most consequential conversations that will guide U.S. foreign policy over the next four years.
On Wednesday at 10:00 am, we hear fromSen. Marco Rubio as he vies to become the next U.S. Secretary of State, followed by Rep. Elise Stefanik in her quest to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
With foreign policy high on the incoming President's agenda, we're closely watching what these confirmation hearings reveal about the priorities of the next Administration.
Here are four big UN questions we expect to come up in the discussion of America's role in a multilateral world.
1. The U.S.-UN Relationship: Is the United Nations still in the worlds and America's interest? Are other countries using the UN to target the United States?
It is important to remember that every year, the UN has a profoundly positive impact on people's lives around the world. In the last year, UN entities assisted and protected 117 million people fleeing war, famine and persecution (UNHCR); provided food and assistance to 160 million people in 120+ countries and territories (WFP); supplied vaccines to 45% of the world's children, helping save 3+ million lives (UNICEF); protected and promoted human rights globally and through 80 treaties and declarations (OHCHR); coordinated $55 billion appeal for the humanitarian needs of 248 million people (OCHA); and assisted 50+ countries with elections (UNDP). In strictly U.S. terms, in 2023, the U.S. was again the biggest beneficiary of UN contracts, with total procurement reaching $2.2 billion. This over two billion investment in U.S. businesses by the UN exceeds America's assessed dues to the UN's regular and peacekeeping budgets.
In addition, while UN critics like to point to voting patterns at the UN and paint a conspiratorial picture, the reality - for decades - reveals that an overwhelming majority of countries vote with the U.S. about 80% of the time. The voting patterns also show that countries are more likely to support our position when we are engaged at the UN as opposed to when we are not.
As both Sen. Rubio and Rep. Stefanik are asked their point of view, we're following how they discuss the value of the UN in today's world and the importance of U.S. engagement in the global body.
2. On global conflict: How can the U.S. cut costs of foreign engagement while continuing to advance its interests around the world?
The U.S. - along with the UN - has historically played an outsized role in leading the response to both regional and global crises. As we enter 2025, however, while levels of global conflict have doubledin the past five years, Americans' appetite for foreign engagement has declined. This, despite most Americans still believingin the importance of U.S. leadership in international affairs.
Investment in UN peacekeeping may provide a pathway to resolve this tension. Currently, more than 70,000UN peacekeepers are deployed across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, southeastern Europe and South Asia, maintaining security in places where a U.S. military presence simply isn't as cost-effective or tenable as a UN alternative.
The UN's annual peacekeeping budget also amounts to less than 0.5% of total global military spending. Nevertheless, the U.S. has accrued over $1 billion in arrearson its financial assessments for UN peacekeeping. This detrimentally impacts the solvency of operations, creates a vacuum for geopolitical competitors to expand their influence and throws into question the veracity of America's word when it comes to following through on our stated commitments.
As both Sen. Rubio and Rep. Stefanik are probed on how the U.S. plans to intervene in places as distant as Sudan to right here in our backyard of Haiti, we're following how peacekeeping may be positioned as a mechanism for both burden-sharing and resolving civil wars, reducing wartime violence, preventing recurrence of war and rebuilding state institutions.
3. On UN funding and reform: How can US engagement promote accountability, reform and operational efficacy at the UN?
Critics of the UN often point to operational opacity and inefficiencies of a large bureaucracy. Ironically, however, it's only witha strong U.S.-UN relationship that the U.S. can advance vital reforms at the global institution. For example, when U.S. funding of peacekeeping operations was not capped at 25%, the UN was able to implement measures that significantly reduced the amount spent per peacekeeper.
We're keeping an eye on how Sen. Rubio and Rep. Stefanik discuss the best ways to advance UN reform i.e. is it with a carrot or stick?
4. On China: How should the U.S. respond to China's growing global influence?
The UN is arguably the most significant global arena in which political and economic competition between Washington and Beijing plays out. In recent years, however, China has been catching up to America's sizeable role in the organization. Not only have Chinese nationals been elected to lead several UN specialized agencies, but China is also now the second-largest financer of the UN's general and peacekeeping budgets, providing more troops to peacekeeping operations than all four permanent members of the Security Council combined. This financial and material support is welcome and something the US has supported. In certain cases, especially around human rights, China has leveraged these distinctions to promote national interests and eschew universal human rights, such as pushing to eliminate civilian staff responsible for monitoring human rights violations (using U.S.-caused funding shortfalls as justification).
Overall, the U.S. still wields tremendous influence at the UN, remains the organization's largest financial contributor and holds top positions in the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs - three of the most important UN agencies. Plus, in 2022, engagement by the US proved essential in electing an Americanas the head of the International Telecommunications Agency (ITU) over a PRC-backed Russian candidate. In replacing a national of the PRC, Doreen Bogdan-Martin became the first woman to head the ITU in its 145-year history, an election that ensured the agency was led by an advocate of free and open Internet.
This is a good example of the benefits of engagement. It is more likely to prevent an outcome the Administration and many members of Congress have expressed concern over: China's ascension in the global political system.
We're listening to hear how the incoming Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador to the UN plan to maintain U.S. predominance as a multilateral leader in the face of Chinese expansion.