The United States belongs to dozens of multilateral organizations, from large and well-known organizations such as NATO, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the United Nations to relatively small niche organizations such as the Universal Postal Union and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The FY 2011 request for “Contributions to International Organizations” under the U.S. Department of State budget included line items for U.S. contributions to some fifty distinct international organizations and budgets. The decisions and policies of these organizations directly and indirectly impact U.S. foreign policy, security and commercial interests. The U.S. should use its influence in these organizations to ensure that American interests are protected.
Abstract: Multilateral diplomacy is challenging. The dynamics are often more complex than bilateral negotiations because there are many more players. But while policies and venues may change, the role of diplomacy—to advance and promote the foreign policy objectives of the United States—is constant and does not change when… Read more
Abstract: In defiance of U.N. financial rules and regulations, the U.N. has retained more than $200 million in unspent funding for closed peacekeeping missions. Instead of returning these funds to U.N. member states as required, the U.N. Secretary-General has used them as a slush… Read more
Abstract: Multilateralism is not an end in itself. It is one of many foreign policy tools, admittedly a very important one, in the diplomatic kit. For the United States, multilateralism faces its greatest challenge at the United Nations, where the all-too-frequent clash of worldviews… Read more
Abstract: The cause of the United States is the preservation of liberty, starting with its own. It is the most noble of callings, and U.S. leaders should never lose sight of this. The shortcomings of the U.N. system,… Read more
There is a clear difference of opinion between people who believe in a national defense policy directed solely by the protection of U.S. security interests and others—sometimes referred to as “transnational progressives”—who believe that the United Nations Security Council and other elements of the “international community” should have an influence… Read more
Abstract: Yet another EU treaty has gone into effect. This time, it is the Treaty of Lisbon. All sorts of tedious rule changes will result, adding yet more layers of bureaucracy and confusion to the behemoth that… Read more
Committee on Foreign Affairs United States House of Representatives … Read more
Abstract: The European Union finally succeeded in ramming through introduction of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009. The treaty was touted by the powers in Brussels as the vehicle that would create the long-awaited "single phone line"… Read more
On October 14, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the United States would seek a "strong international standard" in the control of the conventional arms trade by "seizing the opportunity presented by the Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty at the United Nations." Her announcement contained an important… Read more
Waking up to a Nobel Peace Prize may not have been what President Obama wanted. Here's why: The Nobel Committee awarded the prize on the basis of hope for what he'll do in the future, rather than on his past achievements. Public diplomacy, nuclear disarmament, working through the United Nations and reaching… Read more
The idea of establishing an international court to prosecute serious international crimes--war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide--has long held a special place in the hearts of human rights activists and those hoping to hold perpetrators of terrible crimes to account. In 1998, that idea became reality when the Rome Statute of the… Read more
With President Bill Clinton's veto of the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill on October 18, 1999, Congress will be forced to consider foreign assistance appropriations again this year. Congress had included $12.7 billion in appropriations for foreign assistance and international organizations in this bill, nearly $2 billion less than the Administration had budgeted. The largest cuts… Read more
On September 23, 2003, the World Bank Group and the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet in Dubai to discuss the work of their respective institutions in international monetary and development issues. This meeting would be worth its high expense if the discussion were centered on these… Read more
There is mounting evidence that the United Nations Oil-for-Food program, originally conceived as a means of providing humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people, was subverted by Saddam Hussein's regime and manipulated to help prop up the Iraqi dictator. Saddam's dictatorship was able to siphon off an estimated $10 billion from the Oil-for-Food… Read more
Imagine a terrible plague--a devastating disease--descending on and ripping apart the fabric of your community, killing, crippling, or otherwise disabling half of your friends, family, and neighbors. Beyond the human pain and suffering this would cause, consider the incredible impact it would have on your community's ability to thrive. How… Read more
One of the United Nations' primary responsibilities--and one with which most Americans agree--is to maintain international peace and security, but the United Nations has come under increasing criticism, both within the United States and around the world, for its inability to keep the peace where peace is most needed. The U.N. Charter places principal responsibility… Read more
The United States' relationship with the United Nations is complex. The U.S. has vast and varied national interests in every region of the world, and the U.N. and its affiliated organizations have potential utility in helping the U.S. address foreign policy priorities. It is clearly in the interest of the United States to engage the… Read more
The new GATT agreement and the proposed World Trade Organization (WTO) has sparked a vigorous debate among conservatives in this country, and in some cases the argument has taken on an ugly tone. Last year H.Ross Perot was so visible during the NAFTA debate that I think some conservatives look upon his populist-oriented followers as… Read more
Delivered October 16, 2007 The title of this lecture is an interesting starting point for a discussion. I think the answer differs depending on who you ask. My answer would be that no one "leads" the U.N. Certainly, the Secretary-General does not lead the organization. Not even former Secretary-General Kofi Annan--described as… Read more
On September 23, President Barack Obama will give his first address to the United Nations General Assembly. Recent statements by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton[1] and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice[2] may offer several clues as… Read more
One of the United Nations' primary responsibilities--one with which most Americans agree--is to help to maintain international peace and security. Cold War rivalries greatly hindered the U.N.'s ability to undertake peacekeeping operations during its first 45 years. Since the end of the Cold War, the U.N. Security Council has been far more active in establishing peacekeeping… Read more
One of the United Nations' primary responsibilities is to help to maintain international peace and security. U.N. peacekeeping debacles in the 1990s led to a necessary reevaluation of U.N. peacekeeping. However, as troubling situations have arisen in recent years, many of them in Africa, the Security Council has found itself under pressure to respond and… Read more
The 39-story United Nations headquarters stands on the banks of the East River in Manhattan. But now the U.N. is...… Read more
Foreign aid as a development tool has been tried and found wanting. Decades of handouts from developed countries to...… Read more
Recently, the Organization for International Investment released a report showing that the United States received...… Read more
Well deserved kudos to the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Janet Napolitano. Since the failed December...… Read more
GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA - I was privileged to be one of six representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)...… Read more
The American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court (AMICC), a UN-aligned...… Read more
Senior Research Fellow in Anglo-American Relations
Deputy Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and Director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies
Director, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom
Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, and Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies
Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs