The US withdrew from 66 international organizations, using “anti-woke” rhetoric to justify a move that strengthens its imperialist power.
Details. The United States has formally withdrawn from 66 international bodies, stating that they “no longer serve American interests”. The list includes the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN Women, UNFPA, UN Democracy Fund, UNCTAD, the Peacebuilding Commission, and thematic cooperation bodies such as UN Water and UN Energy.
► Beyond UN agencies, the US has also withdrawn from key multilateral bodies addressing climate, migration, and governance, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
► US agencies have been instructed to end cooperation, withdraw staff, and terminate funding wherever legally possible, removing American financial and technical support from development, climate, and governance programmes relied on heavily by dependent nations.
Context. Trump’s long-standing hostility toward multilateral institutions dates to his first term, when he withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, UNESCO, and the UN Human Rights Council, cut funding to UN peacekeeping and the WHO, and repeatedly criticized the UN as ineffective.
► In his second term, the administration has continued this course by cutting funding to additional UN programmes, declining to send a US delegation to major UN climate meetings, and publicly calling the UN “useless” at its 80th anniversary while rejecting climate science.
► Trump has characterized international institutions as vehicles for global governance, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and environmental regulation that conflict with US sovereignty and national goals, framing these themes as part of a domestic “anti‑woke” narrative.
► The administration has increasingly violated international law, including the blockade and strikes on Venezuela, strikes on Iran without consulting the UN, and sanctions against the International Criminal Court after it issued warrants for Israeli officials.
Important to Know. The US withdrawal is part of a broader strategic trajectory in which Washington is reshaping its engagement with the United Nations and other multilateral institutions to prioritize its political and economic hegemony, preparing for confrontation with its main imperialist rival, China.
► The “anti-woke” narratives also aim to indirectly strengthen far-right parties in Europe in order to bring the EU into greater dependence.
► As with the League of Nations, international institutions such as the UN are tools of imperialist power, not independent arbiters of peace or world governance. They exist to serve the interests of the most dominant states, and when those interests conflict, the organisations lose all effectiveness.