by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump plans to reduce U.S. contributions to the United Nations in a bid to push his "America first" policy, a move experts said may undermine Washington's influence around the world.
Trump said Tuesday at the General Debate of 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly that "no member state shoulders a disproportionate share of the burden," three months after Washington cut its UN peacekeeping budget by over half a billion U.S. dollars.
Indeed, Trump resents the amount of financial support that the United States provides, believing the United Nations does not have much of a positive impact on the world.
Moreover, many of Trump's supporters have disdain for the United Nations, saying it is an organization that has nothing to do with them, even as U.S. taxpayers foot 20 percent of the UN's bills.
Some experts said Trump's stance on the issue, part of his "America first" agenda, could lead to a decreased U.S. role in the world and less U.S. influence worldwide.
"The United States is strong economically and militarily, but runs the risk of losing international influence if it pushes 'America First' over all other considerations," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
"That stance will embolden other nations to promote their own narrow interests and the result will be a world that is far more volatile and chaotic," West said.
"The ability of the United States to shape foreign affairs will be limited and it will be hard to get other countries to follow the American lead," West said.
Some experts believe that Trump's slashing UN commitments could encourage other countries to pick up the slack.
"Reducing payments to the United Nations would encourage other nations to step forward and fill that void," West said.
"If other countries play a stronger role at the United Nations, it would give them a higher ability to shape international affairs. They would be able to influence peacekeeping efforts, economic policy, and diplomatic initiatives. All those things affect how events unfold around the world," West said.
Meanwhile, some other experts believe that Trump does not want to withdraw from the world, but rather does not want to use U.S. tax dollars on an organization he believes has an inefficient bureaucracy.
"President Trump wants the funds America provides the UN to be used effectively and as intended, not mismanaged or used for frivolous purposes," Brett D. Schaefer, an expert on international regulatory affairs at the Heritage Foundation, told Xinhua.
The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations, and foots around 20 percent of the organization's bills. The Trump administration in recent months cut over half a billion U.S. dollars from UN peacekeeping efforts. And there may be more cuts on the horizon, if the administration keeps going in the same direction.
Still, some observers argue the United States will continue to play a major role in the world, whether or not it reduces its UN contributions, as it remains the world's largest economy and a military superpower with significant soft power.
