An overnight announcement by president Donald Trump to exit 66 international organisations \u2013 including Unctad and the IPCC in Geneva \u2013 may signal the US administration\u2019s further diversion from multilateralism, but may be more symbolic than a funding catastrophe. <\/p>\n
As the snow fell on Geneva yesterday, another chill could be felt coming from across the Atlantic, bringing a further freeze by the United States of international cooperation and multilateral relations. On Wednesday evening, the Trump administration signed a sweeping executive order withdrawing from dozens of international organisations and UN agencies, including over 10 with offices in and around Geneva.<\/p>\n
The move was perhaps not surprising after a trend that began exactly a year ago with Washington\u2019s announced withdrawal from the World Health Organization, and has since followed with exits from other significant UN organisations, including its culture and education agency, Unesco, and the Human Rights Council. But the level of detail and sheer number of institutions singled out \u2013 66 in total \u2013 has given observers reason to pause. \u201cThe major thing here is that Trump is going after any kind of erosion of American sovereignty,\u201d says Swiss-US political analyst Daniel Warner.<\/p>\n
Geneva dealt a blow<\/p>\n
The order, which comes after secretary of state Marco Rubio\u2019s review of all international organisations, severs support for 31 UN agencies, offices and councils, as well as another 31 non-UN organisations focused on issues from trade and development, to climate, to education and human rights.<\/p>\n
Geneva-based organisations affected include UN Trade and Development (Unctad) and the International Trade Centre \u2013 both key in providing technical assistance to developing nations \u2013 and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe US has prioritised rejecting bodies that focus on development, environmental issues and gender issues,\u201d Richard Gowan, programme director at International Crisis Group, tells Geneva Solutions. \u201cBasically, the current US administration thinks these are \u2018woke\u2019 issues, so it is no shock these bodies are the main targets.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Rubio gave a litany of reasons for leaving these institutions, saying the Trump administration found them to be \u201cmismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation\u2019s sovereignty\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also suggested that sending staff to these organisations \u2013 \u201cthe blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people\u201d \u2013 was not worth the time and effort. The comments don\u2019t bode well for Geneva, which is still awaiting the appointment of a US ambassador to the UN and other institutions, a year after Trump took office. So far, there have been no indications of a nominee for the post, which Warner said could be interpreted as a purposeful move \u201cto show there is little interest\u201d.<\/p>\n
Early signals<\/p>\n
Eugene Chen, a non-resident adviser at the International Peace Institute, notes that while the number of institutions and conventions is eye-catching, the only UN system organisation that the US will actually be withdrawing from following the order is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the body that oversees the annual conferences, after Trump already announcing its exit from the Paris treaty last January. \u201c<\/p>\n