Op-Ed / Global 30 January 2018 On the U.N. Human Rights Council, Quitters Are Losers Originally published in Foreign Policy The United States should stay and fight, not cut and run. Share Facebook Twitter Email Save Print The Trump administration struck a blow to yet another multilateral institution this month when it slashed funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. UNRWA is not a perfect institution, but it has provided critical humanitarian services, including healthcare and education, to Palestinian refugees since 1950. What will be next on the chopping block? We fear it may be the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. After all, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., has placed caustic criticism of the council near the center of the U.S. government’s current U.N. policy. Even before it withdrew from the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, turned its back on the U.N. migration compact, and lashed out at UNRWA, the Trump administration threatened to make for the exits in Geneva if the council could not meet U.S. demands. The White House wanted the council to tighten its election procedures to make it harder for abusive governments to join, and to get rid of a standing agenda item that singled out Israel for a unique level of criticism. The problem isn’t so much with the administration’s objectives for the council (we support both of them), but with the way Trump has chosen to pursue them, seeking to use the threat of quitting as leverage to achieve reform. This strategy won’t work, and will damage both the council and U.S. human rights policy. Here are five reasons why: The full article can be read at Foreign Policy. Related Tags United States Contributors Stephen Pomper Program Director, United States StephenPomper Keith M. Harper Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton More for you Op-Ed / Middle East & North Africa An Accounting for the Uncounted Originally published in The Atlantic Op-Ed / Global USG Statement on Int’l Criminal Court Probe into Alleged U.S. War Crimes Is Missing Some Things Originally published in Just Security Up Next Commentary / Middle East & North Africa Counting the Costs of U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
A man walks by as the Israeli national flag and an American one are projected on a part of the walls surrounding Jerusalem's Old City, on 6 December 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun Commentary / Middle East & North Africa 7 December 2017 Counting the Costs of U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital President Donald J. Trump on 6 December 2017 declared U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, breaking decades of precedent even while saying the U.S. was not “taking a position of any final status issues”. In this Q&A, Ofer Zalzberg and Nathan Thrall, Senior Analysts for Israel/Palestine, examine what the decision means for Israelis, Palestinians and the future of their conflict. Share Facebook Twitter Email Save Print Download PDF Full Report (en)