Originally published on the CGS blog on June 20, 2011.
Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the UN, and Esther Brimmer, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, both made remarks recently highlighting the importance of the UN and noting the progress that the institution has made.
Rice spoke at the annual meeting of the United Nations Association of the United States. Below are some highlights. Check out Rice’s full speech here.
Rice spoke about the need to engage with the UN to solve global problems:
“Now more than ever, Americans’ security and wellbeing are inextricably linked to those of people everywhere. Now more than ever, we need common responses to global problems. And that is why the U.S. is so much better off-so much stronger, so much safer and more secure-in a world with the United Nations than we would be in a world without it.”
Rice also spoke to the various accomplishments of the UN:
“The UN helps halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons. UN humanitarian agencies go where nobody else will to provide desperately needed food, shelter, and medicine. The UN helps countries combat poverty. The UN fosters democracy by helping strengthen fragile state institutions and supporting elections worldwide, as we’ve seen recently in the run up to the elections in Tunisia and the elections in Guinea. Finally, the UN can bring countries together to advance universal human rights and condemn the world’s worst indignities.”
Lastly, Rice emphasized how critical it is that the U.S. not fall back on its commitment and continues to pay its dues to the UN:
“Some in Congress are again calling for the United States to withhold payment of our legally mandated dues. But, as you well know well, the UN can’t deliver the results we want, if we starve it of the resources it needs.
Meanwhile, Esther Brimmer focused on the change that the U.S. has been able to enact in the Human Rights Council simply by reforming the body from within:
“U.N. bodies, including the Human Rights Council, have improved as the result of direct U.S. engagement.”
She went on to say:
“The Council’s improvement through U.S. engagement is undeniable.”
Lastly, Brimmer also stressed how important it is for the U.S. to pay its dues to the UN:
“The United States must maintain the strongest position it can at the U.N., and that means paying its bills on time and in full…How could we have won tough Security Council sanctions on Iran or North Korea if we were continuing to incur arrears?”
These remarks by both speakers show how vital the UN is and the ability of the institution to undergo meaningful change. They also show that withholding our dues from the U.N. is not only hurtful to the institution, but is also hurtful to American interests.
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