The Company You Keep…
As a member of the public, I am not privy to the detailed events that go on in the halls of power and administration in my country. It should by extension not be a surprise when I state that I am also not aware of what foreign delegations do in the General Assembly of the United Nations whenever they meet and discuss and eventually vote on a variety of topics that would (or at least should) have an impact in my life. As such, I endeavoured to take part in a simple study of the voting process in the United Nations General Assembly because the UN is famous for making landmark decisions. One of the most prominent ones, for me at least, has to be the declaration prohibiting the use of orphanages among member states, but that is a discussion for another day.
The main theory that I am trying to develop is whether there is a particular factor that member states use when voting. One of the factors I studied is that of public opinion. The court of public opinion is the only court in the world that has original jurisdiction over all cases (my fellow lawyers will understand this reference) which means that the public can listen to any matter and come to their own conclusions on it. This might seem to be a simple and inconsequential thing, but history has proven the opposite. Various personalities from musicians, actors, politicians and entrepreneurs just to name a few, have had their characters praised or persecuted and their careers built or destroyed by the very public that is their market. Surely, this could not possibly happen in the largest organization in the World, right?
History has shown us through the only two recognised world wars that the power of alliances is a major force when it comes to the various factions of life that range from politics, social, cultural and even religious institutions. These alliances seemed to enjoy less importance since the end of the Cold War, but specifically, the relationship between Western countries and the United States deteriorated since early 2017. Have you been able to put two-and-two together? If not let me help you.
The presidency of Donald Trump has brought with it a lot of scandals and political constraints that could not have been anticipated by not only the people of the United States but also the rest of the world. I will not even attempt to list them because the news is riddled with such stories on a daily. However, when it comes to the UN, President Trump has not been shy when it comes to intimidating allied countries. For example, Trump called the Canadian Prime Minister “very dishonest and weak” when he left the G7-meeting in 2018 and criticized European NATO members for spending too little on military expenditure. So how does this factor when it comes to the voting?
Determinants and consequences of voting in line with the United States at the General Assembly are a well-discussed topic in political economy studies. For example. Scholars have shown that the United States used foreign aid to buy votes in the General Assembly and had higher cooperation in intelligence service operations with countries that voted more in line with the United States on human rights issues. Developing countries were also more likely to vote in line with the US when they received loans from US-led regional developments banks.
However, despite all of these ventures, this writer does not seem to be convinced that preying on another country’s weakness and desires will shift their view of the US under the current presidency. In fact, it would seem that the UN member states agree with me especially when you see the statistics showing that voting in line with the United States was on average 7.2percentage points lower under Donald Trump than under previous presidents of the United States.
It would seem that public perception does actually matter when it comes to the voting process, though in my opinion, it shouldn’t. Objectivity is key when it comes to making important decisions for the WORLD. But this should be a lesson to all of us. The United States has a President whose mere presence is a disadvantage for them in World affairs. Maybe this can be a spark for us a society to understand the importance of voting our leaders into office. There could be something about the company you keep…
~Michael Kimathi.
