US-UN Relations Take More Positive Steps
By Damiano Beltrami
May 27 -- The cooled relationship between the United States and the United Nations over the last few years under the Bush presidency has warmed up under the Obama administration, as it takes on a new tone and displays new tactics to its approach to working with the world body.
“Just starting out with the way the administration talks about the UN, I think that that’s been a pretty dramatic change,” said Susan Myers, the executive director of the UN Foundation’s New York office, speaking at a May 14 Council of Organizations event arranged by UNA-USA. The new administration, Myers added, “says that the UN is essential, that it is a place where global problems can be addressed and where issues that are directly related to US foreign policy interest can be addressed.”
Ambassador Susan E. Rice, the US representative to the United Nations, is at the forefront of this new era of engagement, Myers said. Rice has met most members of the permanent missions to the UN in her first months as ambassador and is ensuring a high level of US engagement in UN bodies beyond the Security Council and General Assembly, such as the Economic and Social Council.
She has also shown the administration’s willingness to participate in conversations on Security Council reform, indicating that these discussions do not have to be linked to other such reform efforts. This is an important change from the Bush administration’s stance on UN reform, which insisted each proposal be conditional on the implementation of others.
The Obama administration is still pursuing a reform agenda but not by “beating people over the head” or as a “cost-cutting exercise,” Myers said. She added that the administration seemed to be making these efforts more than just “for the sake of it,” but out of a genuine interest in engaging the international community and improving the effectiveness of the UN.
The administration has also shown early interest in the Millennium Development Goals, notably through its own review of US international development assistance. Myers considered it a positive sign that the administration is approaching the review with the MDGs in mind.
She noted, however, that a great deal still must be accomplished in the world arena, particularly more steps toward human rights issues.
“Having just joined the Human Rights Council two days ago,” Myers said, “I think the US is going to approach its membership on the council very robustly, looking towards a review of that body in 2011 as a way to strengthen the work of the Human Rights Council.”
Myers also said that she looked forward to increased involvement on climate change and in the area of women’s rights and reproductive health issues.
Damiano Beltrami is a Fulbright scholar at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.
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