Former UN Secretary-General hopes U.S. will return to multilateralism

Following U.S. President Trump’s proposal to withdraw the U.S. from the UN Arms Trade Treaty in April, the country has pushed its path of unilateralism even further. The United States already withdrew from UNESCO in October 2017 and the UN Human Rights Council in June 2018, with many global leaders showing concern that such moves may undermine the current global cooperative systems.

“The international community has been able to enjoy the current level of economic prosperity and unity through multilateralism symbolized by the United Nations. I’m deeply concerned that multilateralism is now under threat,” Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary-General of the UN, told People’s Daily Online on Thursday.

According to Ban, countries which have benefited the most through multilateral systems are now trying to walk away from the international community, with the United States a case is point.

“The U.S. has walked away from the Paris Agreement, the UN Human Rights Council, as well as UNESCO and many other multilateral settings. I sincerely hope that the U.S. will return to the multilateral system,” said Ban, adding that without global multilateralism, solidarity and unity, we as a society cannot make progress, referencing the climate change agreement as an example.

“A single power, however resourceful and powerful, cannot deal with global issues alone, we have to work together under a strong partnership among governments, private sectors and civil society. I’ve been emphasizing again and again that we should honor and commit ourselves to multilateralism,” he further noted.