By Martin Edwards. 

President-elect Trump’s transition has been overtaken by foreign events and gotten off to a rocky start. Congressional furor over U.S. abstention in a Security Council resolution regarding Israel has led to growing calls to cut the UN budget. Such a move is unlikely to advance U.S. interests, and President-elect Trump would be well advised not to heed the critics seeking to slash U.S. involvement in the UN.

Proposing cuts to the UN budget in response to a decision by the Security Council is a classic “shoot the messenger” move. The Security Council is a political body comprised of elected and permanent member countries. It is not controlled by the Secretary General. The president-elect understands that the Security Council reflects the views of member states rather than the preferences of the UN bureaucracy.

The 14-0-1 vote against Israel came only after intense lobbying by the president-elect to ask Egypt to withdraw the resolution and to ask the Obama White House to veto it. That the resolution passed is a testament to the diplomats who drafted it rather than the wishes of outgoing Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. For Congress to propose cutting the UN budget in this fit of pique, then, is like blaming one’s silverware for weight gained during the holidays.

Image: Children walk during a sand storm in Gao, Mali. Currently, the UN is on frontlines working to fight Al Qaeda affiliates in Mali. UN Photo/Marco Dormino.