It’s time to admit that the United Nations and the United States no longer share common values. While the U.S. remains committed to the promotion of representative government, decentralized power, and the defense of individual freedoms, the U.N. is dedicated to centralizing control and the promotion of tyrants.
In March, the United Nations released a proposal for creating an “emergency platform” response protocol for future “complex global shocks.” Such an emergency response could be triggered and extended unilaterally by the U.N. Secretary-General. These global emergencies can include anything from a manufactured crisis from radical climate activists, another pandemic, supply chain issues, or a cyber disruption. According to the platform, the key to implementing the plan is ensuring participating actors are committed to sustaining the response through financial, technical, and other means of support.
The current U.N. Secretary-General, António Guterres, is a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party. There is little question that this emergency plan would be used to further his redistributive priorities. There is also no doubt that one of the goals of the U.N.’s plan is to further its extreme climate agenda. Many U.N. leaders align more closely with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s radical Green New Deal than with the average American trying to heat their home, put gas in the car, and keep the lights on. We can’t follow the U.N.’s lead, not when it goes against America’s fundamental principles or when it allows internationalists at the U.N. to shape domestic American laws.
American energy independence is more important now than ever. When we rely on other nations for oil, we set ourselves up for catastrophe. American oil and natural gas, produced by American workers, is the only way we can guarantee energy security.
Since our founding, the U.S. has carved its own destiny and forged its own path—even voting against joining the League of Nations a century ago. We must keep this independent spirit. Ceding our autonomy to bureaucrats across the Atlantic, whether it’s called the League of Nations or the United Nations, is a mistake. Allowing an international organization, run by officials Americans never elected, to craft our laws undermines the Constitutional principles of representative government. We are a sovereign nation. We can’t jeopardize that by giving the U.N. more power over our policies and our daily lives.
None of this means that we should ignore what’s going on in the rest of the world. We must do whatever it takes to combat the malign influence of Communist China, contain Iran, and stand up to Russia. However, ceding more power to the U.N. is counterproductive.
After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw how international bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO) can be corrupted and co-opted. The U.N. is no exception. Far too often, the U.N. acts as an enabler of dictators like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Additionally, China and Cuba, two of the world’s worst abusers of human rights, currently sit on the U.N.’s Human Rights Council. Also, consider that twenty-six U.N. member states still do not recognize Israel as a sovereign nation, and the U.N. gives these countries a platform to bully Israel. Yet this is the organization that wants to tell Americans how to live their lives.
The United States must refuse to be led by an unelected governing body that often disdains human rights and promotes antisemitism. We didn’t throw off one dictator across the Atlantic just to replace him with an international body of dictators.
A significant reason why the League of Nations failed is because the U.S. refused to join. Americans recognized from the outset the dangers of exporting our government to foreign politicians with radical agendas, and consequently, the League crumbled. Despite efforts to undermine American prestige, the U.S. is still the world’s leading military and economic power. We need to recall the wisdom of our Founding Fathers and stop this radical proposal before it begins.
It’s time to declare our independence once again. Let’s tell the U.N. that the United States will remain a sovereign, self-governing nation. Thanks, but no thanks.
Congressman Mark Green is a physician and combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, where he served three tours. He interviewed Saddam Hussein for six hours on the night of his capture. He is Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and serves on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.
