A U.N. Reform Plan for Trump and Stefanik

The new administration should reject mandatory assessments’ and fund only programs that work.

- John Bolton

Elise Stefanik, Donald Trump's nominee for U.S.ambassador to the United Nations, has her work cut out for her. Fortunately, she's already aware of the U.N.'s flaws. In a September op-ed for the Washington Examiner, she applauded Mr. Trump for withdrawing from the "corrupt and antisemitic" Human Rights Council and defunding the U.N.

Relief and Works Agency, the U.N.'s permanent refugee organization for Palestinians, during his first term.

She also praised House Republicans for voting to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court.

Ms. Stefanik joins a long line of U.S. officials dismayed by the U.N.'s profound failings, including its deepseated bias against Israel. As one of those officials, my contributions to U.N. reform include implementing President George W. Bush's decision to remove America's signature from the treaty establishing the ICC, advising Mr. Bush to vote against creating the Human Rights Council and then casting the vote, and leading the effort to repeal the U.N.'s infamous "Zionism is racism" resolution. Years later, in 2018, I recommended that Mr.

Trump withdraw from the Human Rights Council and defund Unrwa.

But the job is far from over. No one should underestimate the difficulties that lie ahead or the effort that will be required to achieve real, lasting U.N. reform. A major obstacle is our own State Department. Its bureaucracy historically has been unwilling to do the heavy lifting required to muster support for transforming the U.N. That burden will fall not only on U.S. missions to U.N. components but also on the State Department's regional bureaus, which are responsible for bilateral relations with the other 192 members. For decades, the regional bureaus have found reasons not to engage, pleading that innumerable bilateral issues be given higher priority. Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio will need to crack the whip for reform to succeed.