Multilateral Cooperation Stays Strong Despite U.S. Exits

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring that the United States will withdraw from 66 international organizations, conventions and treaties — including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Of these, 31 are UN entities, covering core areas such as climate, energy, nuclear security and trade rules.

From Trump's first-term withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and UNESCO to now further abandoning global climate consensus, the United States' "exit" actions have continued to escalate.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that these organizations and conventions have either been "captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own" or are "a threat to our nation's sovereignty, freedoms and general prosperity."

The U.S. environmental news site Inside Climate News commented that this behavior is like a new homeowners' association president trying to dissolve the group by posting a note on the front door.

Paolo von Schirach, chair of the London-based Global Policy Institute, further pointed out that this reflects the U.S. bilateral approach of "You want to talk to us, you come here and talk to me," rather than operating within a multilateral framework.

Treating international rules as tools — using them when convenient and discarding them when not — exposes the consistent illogic in how the U.S. approaches the international order. After World War II, the U.S. consolidated its leadership by creating multilateral institutions. However today, when multilateral frameworks no longer serve its unilateral decisions unquestioningly, the U.S. has devolved from a "rule-maker" to a "order-breaker."

This reckless behavior is severely disrupting the environment of open cooperation. The leaders of France and Germany recently warned in a statement that the U.S. move is accelerating the collapse of the post-World War II rule-based global governance system.

The American think tank Center for American Progress noted that destroying multilateral avenues of cooperation does not make the U.S. stronger or give it a freer hand internationally; it takes away a powerful tool that can, and ought to be, used to make Americans safer, more secure and more prosperous.

UNFCCC chief Simon Stiell called this decision "a colossal own goal which will leave the U.S. less secure and less prosperous."

This selfish act will have a negative demonstration effect, weakening collective efforts to respond to global crises and exacerbating the fragmentation of global rules. In an age of frequent extreme weather and global crises, institutions such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are scientific cornerstones for all to face survival challenges.

Gina McCarthy, former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the U.S. withdrawing from the UNFCCC is a "shortsighted, embarrassing and foolish decision."

Stanford climate scientist Rob Jackson emphasized that the U.S. withdrawal could hinder global efforts to curb greenhouse gases because it "gives other nations the excuse to delay their own actions and commitments."

Such destruction of consensus poses great risks of rule failure and delayed action when the international community faces global challenges.

However large the withdrawal, it cannot halt the collective will for global cooperation. In response to the U.S. regression, the international community has shown an unprecedented consensus.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China will always uphold multilateralism, support the UN in playing a central role in international affairs, and work together with the international community to promote a more just and equitable global governance system.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India stands for multilateralism and believes that global issues need consultative and collaborative action by all countries.

The trend of globalization is unstoppable because it is built on the objective reality of mutual interdependence among countries, not on the unilateral will of any single state. The United States' recent series of actions that deviate from agreements and destroy consensus not only harm the common interests of the international community but will also erode its own long-term development and international credibility.

Adhering to multilateralism and maintaining sincere and reliable global partnerships is the fundamental path toward a truly sustainable shared future.

Source: Science and Technology Daily