In The News
from WNYC
Nicholas Burns, former ambassador to NATO and under secretary of state, and a professor at Harvard Kennedy School of Government; and Herman “Hank” Cohen, a former ambassador to Senegal and the Gambia under President Jimmy Carter, and former assistant secretary of state for African affairs under President George H.W. Bush, explain what you should expect from this week's U.N. General Assembly.
The United Nations General Assembly is holding its annual meeting in New York this week, and there is already a great deal of attention on President Donald Trump, who will address the group of world leaders for the first time on Tuesday.
President Trump, who will first host a smaller gathering on U.N. reform today, criticized the United Nations on the campaign trail, calling it a “club” and saying that it under-performed.
But with big issues on the table from North Korea and Iran to the Paris Climate Accord, expectations are high for the president, whose “America First” message may either contribute or detract from the overall mission of the United Nations.
The theme for the U.N. General Assembly this year is "Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet." It’s a goal that will be hard to attain without support from the U.S.
The United States is the biggest financial contributor to the United Nations, providing 22 percent of the core budget and nearly 29 percent of the peacekeeping budget, which makes up about $7 billion alone. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration proposed cuts that may impact U.N. aid programs and peacekeeping operations overseas, something that's concerning countries that are in the throes of crisis, like the Democratic Republic of Congo.