The United Nations was formed after the failure of the League of Nations to
prevent another world war and after World War Two. The failure of the League of
Nations was often blamed upon the lack of membership and participation of the United
States. Its lasted twenty-five years, and even though it was begun with best intentions, it
failed because major members were breaking League rules and nothing was done about it.
The United States has been in the United Nations from its inception and it has flourished
well, despite setbacks, criticism, wars and military conflicts. However, it is time for us to
back off and let the United Nations survive on its own without our help.
The longevity of the United Nations has proven that it will survive without us.
Since 1945 it has been in existence and has grown through necessity as the world’s needs
have changed. For sixty-seven years its effects have been seen and felt around the world,
which is forty-two years longer than the existence of the flawed League of Nations. It can
govern itself without our help. We should not have to keep providing the “lion’s share”
of expenses and manpower to keep it running. They manage to survive even with a $377
million dollar cut from the United States in April 2011.
An early opponent of the United Nations was the John Birch Society, which began
a “get US out of the UN” campaign in 1959 saying the UN’s aim was to establish a “One
World Government.” Even Charles de Gaulle criticized the UN’s foundations for a
global security alliance, and that direct defense treaties between countries is preferred.
Founders envisioned the UN to act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future
wars non-existent. As long as there is humankind, there will be wars. Even though
technology has refined and enhanced communication, there will always be
miscommunication.
Withdrawal from the UN has been a controversial topic for decades. If the UN
physically relocated to Europe, it would not be missed by the majority of Americans.
With its headquarters here in America, it is geographically isolated from the majority of
member countries. And if the United States withdrew from the UN, we would be
relieved of the disproportionate burden of responsibility of hosting this world
organization. Americans believe their tax dollars should be used here at home for the
betterment of Americans. Many Americans want more say so of how their money is
spent, and they are becoming resentful of seeing their money go overseas for the benefit
of others when we have massive unemployment, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and a
broken health care system on our own shores.
Today’s world is deeply interconnected with the advancement of technology, and
the UN functioning with less policing by the United States is possible. The UN can take
care of itself without the “training wheels” of the United States that got it started in its
infancy. The time has come for us to initiate a hands-off approach and more isolationism,
and let us fix what is broken here within our own United States of America.
Works Consulted
All the information included in this essay is common knowledge. Any dates and
facts I included I have learned through classes in high school and college, watching the
news and reading newspapers. There is no way I can pinpoint exactly when and where I
acquired these specific details.
