US steps back from global cooperation |
YOU may have seen the news about the United States withdrawing from United Nations Organizations.
Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has chosen isolation over leadership by pulling out of 66 United Nations and international bodies. This decision, announced via a White House memorandum in early January 2026, marks one of the most sweeping retreats from multilateral engagement in modern U.S. history. These targeted organizations are not just symbolic. They include the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and bodies dedicated to democracy, maternal health, child protection in conflict, and environmental conservation. These are the very platforms the world uses to address shared, borderless crises like climate change, pandemics, war, and democratic erosion.
We all know climate change does not respect national borders, yet the U.S. has chosen to abandon the global architecture designed to confront it. This retreat is consistent with trends from the previous Biden administration. Exiting the UNFCCC and sidelining the IPCC is not a rejection of bureaucracy; it is a rejection of science. At a time when floods, heatwaves, and food insecurity devastate communities from Asia to Africa, this withdrawal sends a dangerous message:........