Background on Foreign Policy

America's policy on Taiwan is very much a multi-dimensional policy, mixing trade issues with foreign policy and miltary issues. Accordingly, our readers might refer to our "China news" page for consolidated updates (OnTheIssues had a separate "China issues" page in the early 2000s, where you can read older background on China).

Foreign Policy topics in the 2020 election cycle:

China vs. U.S.: Statistics
• Trade deficit with China is $379 billion: China is currently our largest goods trading partner with $660 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2018. Goods exports totaled $120 billion; goods imports totaled $540 billion: a goods trade deficit with China of $420 billion. Trade in services with China (exports and imports) totaled an estimated $77 billion. Services exports were $59 billion; services imports were $18 billion. The U.S. services trade surplus with China was $41 billion. (USTR)
• China's poverty line is $5 per day, 1/7 of U.S.: China is the world's second largest economy. But its per capita income is still only about a quarter of that of high-income countries, and about 373 million Chinese are living below the poverty line of US$5.50 a day. (World Bank) [The U.S. poverty line is $12,760 a year--or just under $35 a day--Ed.]
• China's per capita income 3x lower than U.S.: China GDP was approximately 11% of US in 1960 but in 2017 it is 63%. Due to vast population of China, more than 4 times of US's population, difference between these two countries is very high in terms of per capita income. But in terms of "purchasing power parity" – the ability to purchase the same volume of goods and services in both countries -- per capita income of the United States is 3.32 times greater than China. In PPP terms, US is the 8th richest country of the world whereas China comes at 72th rank. (Statistics Times)
• China has 1/5 the imprisonment rate as U.S.: The United States has 2.1 million people in prison, the most of any country. China has the second most people imprisoned, 1.7 million, according to the World Prison Brief. Comparing the incarceration rate per 100,000 population, the U.S. has 5 times the number of people imprisoned, 655 people per 100,000 in the U.S. (also first in the world) compared to 120 people per 100,000 in China (131st in the world). (Wikipedia)
• China's military spending is 1/3 of U.S.: China's annual military budget is estimated to be about 1.7 trillion yuan. This is about 1.9% of China's GDP. Using market exchange rates, China's annual military spending converts to about US$228 billion. By comparison, the US military budget is US$649 billion--or 3.2% of US GDP. (The Conversation)
• China has more naval ships than the U.S.: Shipbuilding: The PRC has the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of approximately 350 ships and submarines. In comparison, the U.S. Navy's battle force is approximately 293 ships as of early 2020. (DoD) The U.S. Navy's Cold War ship count peaked at 594 in 1987, after President Reagan pushed for a "600-ship Navy". (OTI)
• China has 1/12 the nuclear warheads of U.S.: As of 2019, China has an estimated total inventory of 290 warheads. In comparison, the United States' current stockpile is 3,800 warheads, as of 2019, down from a Cold War peak of 31,255 warheads, as of 1967. (Wikipedia)

• TRUMP: By 2027, tsunami as China overtakes US as largest economy (Dec 2011)
• BIDEN: China holds the mortgage on our house, to pay for war (Aug 2007)
• PENCE: Voted YES on deterring foreign arms transfers to China (Jul 2005)
• HARRIS: Trump's China policy has cost American jobs & lives (Oct 2020)
• Constitution Party Nominee Don BLANKENSHIP: China's dictatorial capitalism is very effective (Apr 2018)

China Issues
• Uyghurs in China: The Uyghurs are a mostly Muslim Turkic ethnicity who regard themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations. The majority live in Xinjiang [the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China], where they number about 11 million people. The region's economy has for centuries revolved around agriculture and trade. Towns there such as Kashgar thrived with the growth of the famous Silk Road trading route. (BBC 2020) [22 Uyghurs were imprisoned by the U.S. in Guantanamo as part of the War on Terror; the last three were released in 2013 --Ed.]
• Repression of Uyghurs: The Chinese government has imprisoned more than one million Muslims in re-education camps since 2017 and subjected those not detained to intense surveillance, religious restrictions, and forced sterilizations. The United States has blacklisted dozens of Chinese agencies linked to abuses in Xinjiang. Most people in the camps have never been charged with crimes and have no legal avenues to challenge their detentions. (CFR)
• Hong Kong: Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Hong Kong's foreign relations and defense are the responsibility of the PRC. Hong Kong is an independent customs territory and economic entity separate from the PRC and can separately enter into international agreements in commercial, economic, and certain legal matters, under the Basic Law. [The Basic Law, Hong Kong's Constitution, was negotiated by the United Kingdom, because Hong Kong was a British Colony for 100 years. (State Department) In 1997, Hong Kong became part of China, under the slogan "One Country; Two Systems" -- with numerous kinks in that unification....
• Hong Kong Protests: The Hong Kong protests began in 2019 in opposition to a proposed extradition law that would have allowed the transfer of fugitives to mainland China. The demonstrations escalated into a much wider anti-government movement that resulted in increasingly violent clashes between protesters and police. (SCMP)
• Hong Kong Security Law: [In July 2020] Beijing enacted a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong. The law's provisions--which punish crimes related to secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces--have been used as grounds for disqualifying political candidates, arresting students over social media posts and banning common protest slogans. (Time)

• TRUMP: Protect human rights in Hong Kong against China (Nov 2019)
• BIDEN: Speak out against China at UN, for Uighurs and Hong Kong (Nov 2019)
• PENCE: Member of the Silk Road Congressional Caucus (Nov 2007)
• NEWS: Latest statements on China from presidential candidates and political pundits
• UPDATE: See our Free Trade backgrounder for a 2024 update on China tariffs.

Syria and Kurdistan
• Kurdistan: The Kurds are a large and distinct ethnic minority in the Middle East, numbering some 25-30 million people. The area that they have inhabited spans modern day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Half of the Kurds reside in Turkey, where they comprise over 20% percent of the population. Any expression by the Kurds (as well as other minorities in Turkey) of unique ethnic identity has been harshly repressed. (FAS)
• Kurdish Repression: Since 1980, Turkey's military regime subjected the Eastern and Southeastern provinces to at least five military maneuvers aimed at terrorizing Kurds. To date, arrests in Kurdish provinces have totalled 81,634. Of these, 378 have allegedly been tortured to death, and 374 have been killed in night-time attacks. (Cultural Survival)
• Kurds vs. ISIS: Turkey considers the biggest militia in the Kurdish-led alliance a terrorist extension of a rebel group fighting in Turkey. Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels launched an offensive to create a 20-mile deep "safe zone" along the Syrian side of the border. It came after the withdrawal of US troops, who had relied on the Kurds to defeat the Islamic State group. (BBC 10/23/2019)

• TRUMP: Good that Russia is involved in Syria (Oct 2015)
• BIDEN: We should not have abandoned the Kurds (Feb 2020)
• PENCE: Keep sanctions against Syria until WMDs are dismantled (May 200)
• HARRIS: Distinguish Islamic religion from terrorism (May 2015)
• Green Party Nominee Howie HAWKINS: Self-determination for Kurdish people (Jul 2020)
• NEWS: Latest statements on Syrian Refugees and Kurdistan from presidential candidates and political pundits
• UPDATE: See our War & Peace backgrounder for a 2024 update on the fall of the Assad regime.

Russia and Ukraine
• Presidential Election Interference: Russian-linked actors are pushing disinformation intended to hurt Biden. The Treasury Department went a step further, sanctioning [member of Ukrainian Parliament] Andriy Derkach for waging a years-long "covert influence campaign" that centered on "cultivating false and unsubstantiated narratives concerning US officials in the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election." (CNN Sept. 2020)
• Disinformation campaign: The White House was warned in 2019 that Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani "was being used to feed Russian misinformation" to the President. The Washington Post said that US intelligence agencies warned the White House that NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani "was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence" in which Trump was the intended recipient of the misinformation. (CNN Oct. 2020)

• TRUMP: Condemn Russian & any country's involvement in our elections (Oct 2016)
• BIDEN: Russia vs. Ukraine: Big country beating up a smaller one (Nov 2017)
• PENCE: Fight Russia with strength and allies (Oct 2016)
• HARRIS: Trump embracing Korean & Russian dictators is a threat (Jun 2019)
• NEWS: Latest statements on Russia and election interference from presidential candidates and political pundits
• SPECIAL REPORTS: Mueller Report on Russian election interference and the impeachment of Donald Trump for actions with Russia and Ukraine

Nagorno-Karabach
• Armenia vs. Azerbaijan: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the actions of Turkey and Azerbaijan amounted to a "terroristic attack" over Nagorno-Karabakh that formed part of the continuation of Armenian genocide. "To me there is no doubt that this is a policy of continuing the Armenian genocide and a policy of reinstating the Turkish empire." The Armenian genocide refers to the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. (Reuters Oct. 2020)
• Armenian WWI Genocide: The mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One remains a highly sensitive issue. Turkey has resisted widespread calls for it to recognize the 1915-16 killings as genocide. The US House of Representatives voted to recognize it as genocide. Turkey condemned the vote as a meaningless political step. (BBC 10/30/2019)

• TRUMP: Refuses to consider mass killings of Armenians as genocide (Dec 2019)
• BIDEN: Acknowledge the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s (Mar 2007)

Greenland
• Purchasing Greenland: The idea of the U.S. purchasing Greenland has captured the former real-estate developer's imagination, according to people familiar with the discussion, who said Trump has, with varying degrees of seriousness, repeatedly expressed interest in buying the ice-covered autonomous Danish territory between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. (WSJ)
• Relations with Denmark: Trump has cancelled his trip to Denmark and postponed his meeting with the Danish prime minister after she said that Greenland was not for sale. Mette Frederiksen called purchasing the island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, "an absurd discussion". The president said that since the prime minister had "no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland", he had decided to postpone their meeting. (The Guardian)

Saudi Arabia and Yemen
• Saudi Journalist Killing: Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul by a team of Saudi agents. The Saudi government said the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation" and the following year Saudi prosecutors put 11 unnamed individuals on trial. The 59-year-old journalist went into self-imposed exile in the US in 2017. (BBC Sept. 2019)
• Saudi Cover-up: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's admitted that he takes "full responsibility," while denying foreknowledge of the killing or that he ordered it. The president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not only refused to distance themselves from the crown prince but also actively worked to relegitimize him. (NPR)
• BBC, "Yemen crisis: Why is there a war?," 19 June 2020
• Yemen Civil War: The Houthi movement which champions Yemen's Shia Muslim minority took control of their northern heartland of Saada province and neighboring areas. Many ordinary Yemenis - including Sunnis - supported the Houthis, and the rebels gradually took over the capital Sanaa. Alarmed by the rise of a group they believed to be backed militarily by regional Shia power Iran, Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states began an air campaign aimed at defeating the Houthis. (BBC June 2020)
• U.S. & Saudi Intervention in Yemen: Since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen's civil war, the United States gave its support to an air campaign where Saudi warplanes and bombs hit thousands of targets, including civilian sites and infrastructure. US officials insisted that American weapons, training and intelligence assistance would help the Saudis avoid causing even more civilian casualties.

• TRUMP: $350B of American arms to Saudis: jobs, jobs, jobs. (Jan 2018)
• BIDEN: Punish senior Saudi leaders; make them the pariah they are (Nov 2019)
• Birthday Party Nominee Kanye WEST: Praises Mideast peace treaties; expects Israel-Saudi next (Sep 2020)
• NEWS: Latest statements on Saudi Arabia from presidential candidates and political pundits
• Democratic Primary Contender Andrew YANG: Let our values lead us: no aid to Saudi Arabia against Yemen (Aug 2019)
• NEWS: Latest statements on the Yemen Civil War from presidential candidates

North Korea Update (more below)
• Korean Denuclearization: North Korea said it was abandoning attempts to pursue a diplomatic relationship with the White House. The statement by North Korea's Foreign Minister represented the clearest indication that Pyongyang appears to have all but given up on improving ties with the Trump administration and working toward "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." (USA Today)
• Korean Succession: Pyongyang has never announced who would lead the country were Kim Jong Un to be incapacitated. Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, has been the most visible presence around the leader in the past two years, serving formally as a vice director of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Committee but unofficially as her brother's chief of staff. (Reuters May 2020)
• Korean Diplomacy: If Joe Biden is elected, American policy toward North Korea is likely to see less emphasis on personal dealings with leader Kim Jong Un, and more focus on allies and working-level diplomacy. North Korea lashed out at Biden, calling him a "rabid dog" that should "be beaten to death" for comments seen as disparaging of Kim. Biden cited those threats when he said he would not meet with Kim unless unspecified preconditions are met. (Reuters Aug. 2020)

• TRUMP: At peace with North Korea due to my friendship with Kim (Oct 2020)
• BIDEN: Trump has legitimized North Korea, a rogue state (Oct 2020)
• HARRIS: Trump embracing Korean & Russian dictators is a threat (Jun 2019)
• NEWS: Latest statements on North Korea from presidential candidates and political pundits

These topics arose during the 2015-2016 presidential primary debates as new topics...
• American Exceptionalism: refers to America having a unique status in the world today. The interest in American exceptionalism counters Obama's rejection of the concept, when Obama said, "Sure, I believe in American exceptionalism in the same way the British believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Republicans generally interpret that as meaning, "No, I don't believe in your version of American exceptionalism at all."

  Before the term "American exceptionalism" became popular, candidates discussed "multilateralism" vs. "unilateralism" in how America should deal with the world. Multilateralists believe that America should engage with the world through international organizations such as the United Nations, while unilateralists believe that America should act in America's interest regardless of what the rest of the world thinks.

  News on American Exceptionalism (Candidates' recent excerpts)

• AIPAC: AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with 100,000 members, is the leading lobbying group for Israeli interests in U.S. politics. AIPAC only lobbies for bipartisan bills (jointly sponsored by at least one Democrat and at least one Republican), but AIPAC generally favors more conservative than liberal positions.

• NATO expansion:
  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was, during the Cold War, the main counterbalance to the Soviet Union. Now it includes 28 countries, including some of the former Soviet bloc. At issue in 2015 is determining which former Soviet allies to include in NATO: the most recent additions were Albania and Croatia in 2009.
  • Aspiring NATO applicants include three former Soviet republics-- Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova--plus four former Yugoslav republics--Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Those countries were all formerly part of the "Warsaw Pact," NATO's opponent.
  • The Warsaw Pact was replaced after the breakup of the Soviet Union with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which currently comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan (withdrawn members include Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Uzbekistan).

• Crimean Crisis of 2014-2015:
  • On March 16, 2014, Crimea held a referendum vote on whether to declare independence from Ukraine; the vote passed with 96% in favor. Russia recognized the independent Crimean Republic the next day; and the day after that, signed a treaty with Crimea's leaders annexing it to Russia. Russia then invaded and annexed the Crimea.
  • The Ukraine protested but its army was insufficient to oppose the Russians. Russia also threatened the same sort of referendum vote (and invasion) of Eastern Ukraine, which distracted attention from Crimea.
  • A 1954 Soviet Decree was hence undone: Transfer of the Crimean oblast from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (February, 1954)
  • In 2014, the eastern region of Ukraine was declared the "Donetsk People's Republic," supported by Russia but declared a terrorist group by Ukraine supporters. As of 2015, Ukraine's supporters claim that Russia supports the Donetsk group militarily, for the purpose of declaring a separate state affiliated with Russia.

These topics arose during the 2014 Senate primary debates as new topics...
• Ebola outbreak:
  • The largest Ebola outbreak in history began in West Africa in December 2013. The disease was first identified in 1976, but the 2014 outbreak was the first to infect cities rather than rural areas. After one year, about 6,000 people have died from 17,000 cases, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The infection rate is still increasing in those three countries.
  • Unlike most viruses, Ebola is infectious even after its host has died; hence many people get infected while preparing the dead for burial (until special Ebola-safe burial practices took effect). At greatest risk are the doctors and nurses treating the ill, since the virus spreads though contact with bodily fluids, which are commonly exposed during treatment.
  • President Obama’s response has been to send U.S. military personnel to assist with constructing more hospital beds and other needed infrastructure. The medical infrastructure of the affected countries has been severely damaged, with the deaths of many doctors and nurses.
  • Obama has stated that he will not impose travel restrictions on West Africa, an action which has been demanded by many Americans, except to screen incoming air passengers. Obama states that restricting air travel would hinder the medical response because fewer doctors and nurses could fly into the affected area.

• Cuba normalization:
  Pres. Obama said on Dec. 17, 2014 that he would ease economic and travel restrictions on Cuba and attempt to partner with Congress to end the trade embargo. His announcement came after Cuba released American Alan Gross, who had been imprisoned for five years, and a Cuban who had spied for the U.S. In exchange, the U.S. freed three Cubans jailed in Florida. The Pope worked behind the scenes to make many of the arrangements.

  President John F. Kennedy initiated the embargo against Cuba in 1962 after Fidel Castro led the communist revolution to take over the Cuban government. As of 2015, the embargo is still in effect and is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history. Despite the existence of the embargo, the US is the fifth largest exporter to Cuba. However, Cuba must pay cash for all imports. The UN General Assembly has, since 1992, passed a resolution every year condemning the ongoing impact of the embargo and declaring it to be in violation of international law.

• Vietnam normalization:
  • In 1975, after North Vietnam won the Vietnam War, President Gerald Ford extended the 1964 trade embargo on North Vietnam to unified Vietnam.
  • In 1994, President Bill Clinton ordered an end to the U.S. trade embargo.
  • In 2001, the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement granted Vietnam permanent normal trade relations (PNTR). In 2007, Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO).
  • In 2011, bilateral trade reached $21.8 billion, compared to $220 million in 1994.
  • For the 2016 race, the key issues are how to conduct trade with a non-market economy (Vietnam is socialist). Vietnam with six other countries are now in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations with the U.S.

• Venezuela:
  • President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela was a nationalist and a Marxist. Because of his connection to Communism, he was considered an enemy of America; but because of Venezuela’s oil wealth and drug pipeline, Venezuela was important for American policy.
  • In 2006, President Chavez spoke at the United Nations the day after President George W. Bush had spoken there, and said, “Yesterday, the devil came here. And it smells of sulfur still today. From this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.”
  • Chavez died in office in 2013; relations have still not thawed.

These topics arose during the 2011-2012 Republican primary debates as new topics; we also update the older topics below from the 2012 primaries...
• Helms-Burton: refers to the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (R, NC) and Rep. Dan Burton (R, IN). The law extended the embargo against Cuba, initiated by Pres. Eisenhower in 1960 and strengthened by Pres. Kennedy in 1962. The embargo expresses US opposition to Fidel Castro's communist policies in Cuba. Fidel Castro retired in 2008; the Communist Party still rules via Fidel's brother Raul Castro. Pres. Obama has promised to relax the embargo but as of 2012, only the travel ban was slightly loosened.

• Cuba Travel Blockade: The US government has forbidden US citizens from traveling to Cuba since the 1960s. Try booking a trip from Mexico City to Havana on travelocity.com (or any travel website) and it says, "Due to a U.S. government travel restriction we are unable to book this reservation." You can, however, purchase that same ticket while in Mexico City, or anywhere else in the world. The bill below attempts to undo this long-standing situation.

Click for full background on China

• The term Arab Spring refers to a series of revolutions in Arab countries, which toppled (or threatened to topple) dictators or kings.

• Immolation: The first revolution began in Tunisia on Dec. 17, 2010: a fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, tried to stop a policewoman from stealing his fruit. The woman and some other officers then hit the vendor with a baton. After being told at city hall that he could not register a complaint about the incident, Bouazizi immolated himself in an anguished act of protest.

• Tunisia: Bouazizi's suicide sparked widespread protests in Tunisia that toppled the country's dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and then spread throughout the region.

• Egypt: Protests began in Egypt on Jan. 25; Hosni Mubarak resigned on Feb. 10, 2011.

• Libya: On Jan. 14 2011, protests began in Libya and degenerated into a civil war. On March 19, UN forces (including the US) began a bombing campaign. On Aug. 13, 2011, Moammar Khadafy fled the capital and was subsequently killed.

• Syria: Protests began in Syria on Jan. 26 2011; as part of the region-wide Arab Spring. In fighting degenrated into a full-scale civil war, with hundreds of thousands of civilians killed. Fighting has focuswed on the rebel stronghold of Homs, where 2,000 opposition protesters were killed by the Syrian government. Protesters have demanded the end to nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule, an end to torture for imprisoned protesters, as well as the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, who inherited his position from his father. The Arab League, the US, and the European Union have condemned Assad's actions, but China and Russia have blocked any sanctions at the UN. President Obama considered military action in 2013-2014, but the American public roundly rejected the idea. Candidates in 2015 discuss arming the rebels; targeting ISIS; and an air war without U.S. ground troops.

• Yemen: In January 2015, the government of Yemen collapsed, with the president resigning under pressure from the Houthi rebels. Yemen was formerly two countries -- South Yemen merged with the Yemen Arab Republic in 1990 after a long civil war. Many fear a split, or a civil war, or growing al Qaeda influence, after the government collapse.

• Major protests have occurred in Bahrain, Algeria, and Iraq; numerous other Arab countries have had protests as well.
• News on Arab Spring (Candidates' recent excerpts)

News on Foreign Aid (Candidates' recent excerpts)

Foreign aid advocates (including Hillary Clinton) suggest increasing foreign aid to 1% of the total budget; that increase would be at least an eight-fold increase.

The distribution of foreign aid is not evenly distributed and indeed is politically-determined. The table below shows the distribution for the top ten recipient countries for 2010 to 2012 (average distribution for the three years, in millions). Those three years represent President Obama's first three budgets without influence of President Bush.

• The UN was founded in 1945 with 51 member countries. Its membership has since grown to 189 member countries, with representation from about 90% of the world's countries.
• UN Members are sovereign countries. The UN is not a world government, and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve international conflict and formulate policies on matters affecting every country.
  Some of the UN's major organs are:
  • The General Assembly: All UN Member States are represented in the General Assembly - a kind of parliament of nations which meets to consider the world's most pressing problems. Each Member State has one vote.
  • The Security Council: The organ with primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. There are 15 Council members. Five of these - China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States - are permanent members. The other 10 are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Member States have discussed making changes in Council membership to reflect today's political and economic realities.
  • UN peacekeeping operations are established by the Security Council. There's an ongoing UN presence in Kashmir since 1949; in Cyprus since 1964, and in Kosovo since 1999, for a few examples. The US commits troops to some of these peacekeeping efforts.
  • The Economic and Social Council: Under the authority of the General Assembly, its organs include the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the UN Children's Fund.
  • The International Court of Justice: The "World Court" is the main judicial organ of the UN. Consisting of 15 judges elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Court decides disputes between countries. Participation by States in a proceeding is voluntary, but if a State agrees to participate, it is obligated to comply with the Court's decision.
  • The International Criminal Court: The ICC was founded by the United Nations General Assembly in 1998, by a vote of 120-7. The United States voted against the Rome Statute, the founding treaty, along with China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Qatar, and Yemen. The U.S. never ratified the treaty, and hence is not legally bound by the ICC. President George W. Bush opposed the ICC on grounds that U.S. service members could be prosecuted. President Barack Obama stated in 2009 that the U.S. would cooperate with the ICC, but has not attempted to ratify the Rome Statute in the Senate.
  • The International Monetary Fund: The IMF, the World Bank, and other specialized agencies are linked to the UN through cooperative international agreements.
  • The UN System: In addition to financial organizations, other specialized agencies include: the World Health Organization, the Universal Postal Union, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and other treaty-based organizations for international cooperation and commerce.
• The US failed to pay its UN dues, until the total reached almost $1 billion in 2000. In May 2001, the House voted 252-165 to withhold $244 million in back dues the US had agreed to pay, until the UN restored the US seat on the UN Human Rights Commission.
• Despite the failure to pay dues, the US contributed a total of more than $1.4 billion dollars to the UN system in other assessments, and spent an additional $8.7 billion from the US military budget to support various UN resolutions and peacekeeping operations around the world.
• The UN budget (1999) is about $1.3 billion per year for the UN itself and about $10 billion for the UN system (excluding the separate budgets for the IMF and World Bank).
• News on the United Nations (Candidates' recent excerpts)

• Russia continues to suffer from 50% annual inflation and a recession exacerbated by the Asian economic crisis. The IMF is planning to shore up Russia with a $4.5 billion loan.
• US-Russian relations were strained by the Kosovo conflict (Russia has historically supported the Serbs); the expansion of NATO (we added 3 former Soviet satellites over Russian objections in 1997); the war in Chechnya (a Russian province suffering from a Muslim uprising and independence movement); and uncertainty over President Yeltsin's political stability.
• Vladimir Putin won election as President of Russia in early 2000. President George W. Bush met with Putin shortly after Bush's inauguration in January 2001.
• While Chechnya still is a thorn in the side of US-Russian relations, Russia's assistance in the US war in Afghanistan seems likely to foster good relations and additional US economic aid.

• The hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu lost the election to Ehud Barak in May 1999. Barak had re-opened peace talks with Syria and Lebanon as of July 1999, promising a negotiated peace with both by next year.
• A land-for-peace deal was negotiated with Palestine in the Wye River Accords of 1998, but the process was stalled under Netanyahu. The Palestinian Authority under Yassir Arafat currently controls 27% of the land area of West Bank and Gaza; the Wye River Accords would add 13%. The current land area includes 98% of the Palestinian population.
• Ariel Sharon, a conservative hard-liner and former military leader, won election as Prime Minister in 2001, in large part because of Israeli frustration at the continuing Intifadeh, or Palestinian uprising.
• Israel has occupied Syria's Golan Heights since 1967. Israel has controlled much of South Lebanon since the early 1980s, with Syria controlling much of the rest of Lebanon. Negotiations with Syria will focus on returning Golan to Syria and returning Lebanon to independence.
• Does Palestine Exist? (a hot topic in the 2012 GOP primaries): Britain controlled both Israel and Palestine as a colony known as "The British Mandate in Palestine" prior to 1948. On May 14, 1948, the United Nations (with US support, but without Arab support) declared the region partitioned into two states, Israel and Palestine. Neighboring Arab countries immediately invaded; Israel survived the ensuing war but Palestine did not. Egypt, Syria, and Jordan occupied areas which the UN had declared as parts of Palestine. Israel also occupied some of those areas in 1948, and all of those areas in 1967, but Israel agrees that eventually there should be two states. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum claimed during the presidential primaries that "Palestine" does not exist; they mean that it was only an independent legal nation for a very brief period in 1948. But the "Palestinian" identity did exist prior to 1948, and has become the self-identification of Arabs living within the current Israeli borders.

• Since the Gulf War in 1991, the US has launched 4 major military strikes against Iraq, most recently Operation Desert Fox in December 1998.
• The US and UN continue to actively enforce a containment policy against Saddam Hussein; our primary tools are the 'no-fly zones' and an economic embargo.
• During the US War on Terror, Saddam has been regularly accused of state-sponsored terrorism and of building bioterrorism weapons, but has laid low during the prosecution of the war.
• The Iraq War formally ended on Dec. 15, 2011. Approximately 5,000 "security contractors" will remain to guard the US Embassy in Baghdad, plus several thousand more "general support contractors." Another 9,000 US troops are just over the border in Kuwait.

• North Korean Nukes: Pakistan and their nemesis India both successfully tested nuclear weapons in 1998. Neither country signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and hence their nuclear test were not subject to international criticism. Iran, in contrast, signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1996 and hence is subject to international criticism for developing nuclear weapons. North Korea never signed the treaty, but was criticized internationally anyway for its first nuclear test in 2006. Pakistan and India have about 100 nuclear warheads each, compared to 8,500 possessed by the United States; 11,000 possessed by Russia; and fewer than 10 possessed by North Korea.

• North Korea:
• As many as 2 million have died from starvation since 1995. Drought and famine continue today, and South Korea is concerned that the North will attack if facing imminent political collapse.
• Naval clashes threatened open warfare in spring and summer 1999.
• In 2000, the regime placed emphasis on expanding foreign trade links, embracing modern technology, and attracting foreign investment, but in no way at the expense of relinquishing central control over key national assets or undergoing market-oriented reforms.

• North Korean Succession:
• North Korean President Kim made a trip to Moscow in 2000, his first trip ever out of the country, but spent 10 days traveling in each direction by train because he refused to fly.
• Kim Jong-Il, the “Dear Leader” of North Korea, died in Dec. 2011, and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un, now dubbed the “Great Successor.” Besides his idiosyncratic personality, the new North Korean leader has been criticized for human rights violations, as well as grandstanding on nuclear weapons.