September 24, 2020
The United States Can’t Quit on the UN
When America Withdraws, China Wins
This week, the United Nations General Assembly is holding its first-ever virtual gathering of world leaders. The event has been a complicated one for Washington. In his recorded speech before the General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump excoriated China for its failure to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus around the world. But the inadequacies of his own administration’s response overshadowed his message. The Trump administration has turned the United States inward and retreated from the UN, most recently by precipitously withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) during the pandemic.
U.S. retrenchment empowers only China.
In June, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien explained that the United States terminated its relationship with the WHO because the agency’s “response to the pandemic showed that it is beholden to China.” The administration claims to face a binary choice between withdrawing from or cooperating with UN agencies that are cowed by authoritarian interests. But the dichotomy is a false one.
Read the full article in Foreign Affairs.
More from CNAS
-
Sharper: Maritime Security
Commentary
The importance of securing the maritime domain is rapidly increasing. From the South China Sea to the Red Sea, the U.S. and its allies are experiencing escalating challenges t...
By Anna Pederson & Charles Horn
-
Countering Coercion
Reports
The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC or China) has been engaging in gray zone activity—coercive behavior that is aimed at changing the status quo but that is below a threshol...
By Lisa Curtis & Nilanthi Samaranayake
-
Deterring the Powerful Enemy
Congressional Testimony
It is a privilege to testify here on matters that are important to the vital national security interests of the United States, as well as those of our other allies and partner...
By Tom Shugart
-
Military Artificial Intelligence, the People’s Liberation Army, and U.S.-China Strategic Competition
Congressional Testimony
China sees AI playing a central role in advancing its military power. Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping has set ambitious goals for the PLA to “basica...
By Jacob Stokes
