Vote for aid? How economic interaction with the United States affects countries’ voting patterns at the UN General Assembly

Abstract

The article investigates how the dynamics of economic aid from the United States and its trade and investment relations with a country affect the latter’s voting solidarity at the United Nations General Assembly. First, the approaches of Democrats and Republicans to financing the UN in connection with voting in the General Assembly are delineated. It is worth noting that Democrats tend to support multilateral institutions and policies, while Republicans have historically favored unilateral foreign policy. Still, both parties consistently prioritize allocating the U.S. funding for the United Nations to certain countries. The author uses data on financial flows directed toward multilateral institutions, along with other U.S. bilateral foreign aid, trade, and investment statistics, to explore whether economic interconnectivity affects the degree of the UN member states’ solidarity with the United States’ voting patterns at the General Assembly. It is concluded that economic relations with the United States do not significantly determine the increase in voting solidarity at the General Assembly. A group of 58 states is identified that, over a 25-year period (from 1996 to 2021), displayed a growing alignment with the United States in situations where it voted differently from the majority of other UN members. However, the increase in aid, trade, and investments from the United States to this group is primarily driven just by 13 major U.S. economic partners and aid recipients. Remarkably, the voting behavior of this select group of 13 states mirrors that of the remaining members of this focus group of 58 states.