U.S. Reneging on Deal to Pay UN Arrears

Historically, United States foreign policy has rested on the twin pillars of military aggression and economic blackmail or bribery. For most of the past two decades, the U.S. has withheld its dues to the United Nations whenever that organization adopted resolutions which were not to the liking of the U.S. As a result, it is now billions of dollars in arrears, leading to demands that the headquarters of the UN be moved from New York to Geneva.

The refusal of the U.S. to pay its dues has led to chronic underfinancing of the UN and the inability of that organization to effectively carry out many of its programs.

In response to growing international pressure, former U.S. President Bill Clinton signed an agreement to immediately and unconditionally pay over $500 million of the U.S. arrears. However, the U.S. now appears to be hedging or reneging even on this limited agreement by attempting to tie the payment to a demand that the UN restore the U.S. seat on the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The U.S. lost that seat earlier this year in a humiliating vote. That vote was widely interpreted as a message to the U.S. that the world is sick and tired of its bullying tactics, particularly in regard to the National Missile Defence program, its unilateral rejection of the Kyoto environmental protocols, its double standard on human rights and its ongoing, illegal economic blockade of Cuba.