Political boogeyman

[Gunnar Larson]

The United Nations is a convenient political scapegoat for many U.S.
Republicans who have already ramped up electoral attacks on the world body.

*Also in today’s edition:* The Danes backtrack to beef up their development
bona fides, and Africa CDC institutes a hiring quota.

 *On Jan. 10, join us for our first Devex Pro event of the year, an “ask me
anything” session with Devex President Raj Kumar, and get exclusive
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Political boogeyman
U.S. Republicans and the United Nations get along like oil and water. *The
world body is a perennial punching bag for conservatives* — and the hits
are about to keep on coming as the United States enters election season.

Republicans such as presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley
have plucked the liberal political slogan “defund the police” and *repackaged
it to “defund the U.N.”* to win over their conservative base
<https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POitZi1OcIE_0Xjzs73eE_Dtl8Qj4v1sk1wL7-JYMWmxZJlAD-GxJblSqdviDPCecKTTDz1jgzuvbatMqTxjk7RFWfmE4uFRgMUF14h-11DGD4JxYNawpGYf0JQ9d9pqbRlhmq6Tj5k1Wk-9hareFMiEEOZ5XWJ24NR5THSLgKOi3coTO05jJ7BbLj9cU09ZtEWTy2ti7Fv1xnUGQ3ku7UwTqopjb0t-_FjkcfRPJbbLMiafiUmQpCpDmEw105WbEhg==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGQc1VeEXtVapgqjMAc3E5wdzlP5G-YfFZFS6m_6PKt8StIbboInE7HuhjhO8n1Gmj7ehuYzvQ=>,
my colleague Colum Lynch writes.

“The prospect of the U.S. election is already casting a pretty long shadow
over U.N. diplomacy,” says Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group,
noting that U.N. diplomats have “never really shaken off the suspicion that
Trump might return to power.”

Multilateralist Joe Biden was *supposed to be the global antidote to Donald
Trump’s isolationism*. And indeed, the Biden administration rejoined the
U.N. Human Rights Council, the Paris Agreement on climate change, UNESCO,
and the U.N. Population Fund. It also resumed hundreds of millions of
dollars in contributions to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

But Biden’s staunch support of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has
*tarnished
his reputation at the U.N.* “People aren’t going to just forget this,” says
one senior U.N.-based diplomat.

Others say any dings against the U.S. — which spends more than $18 billion
<https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGQc1VeEUgbtfzkKHBu9S0-h5Fwvv1EqI6o8D_Ka1WCK8DGoEBoJGlg8skEMLAkRi8-nRDNefs=>
a
year on U.N. activities — won’t stick.

As Peter Yeo, president of the Better World Campaign, the advocacy wing of
the U.N. Foundation, puts it: *“This too shall pass.”*

*Read: *US presidential candidates rally behind ‘defund the UN’ campaign
<https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POitZi1OcIE_0Xjzs73eE_Dtl8Qj4v1sk1wL7-JYMWmxZJlAD-GxJblSqdviDPCecKTTDz1jgzuvbatMqTxjk7RFWfmE4uFRgMUF14h-11DGD4JxYNawpGYf0JQ9d9pqbRlhmq6Tj5k1Wk-9hareFMiEEOZ5XWJ24NR5THSLgKOi3coTO05jJ7BbLj9cU09ZtEWTy2ti7Fv1xnUGQ3ku7UwTqopjb0t-_FjkcfRPJbbLMa9kchj9NQcTbvx39myHc2w==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGQc1VeEXtVapgqjMAc3E5wdzlP5G-YfFZFS6m_6PKt8StIbboInE7HuhjhO8n1Gmj7ehuYzvQ=>
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