H.R.193 - American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2017

The American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2017 was introduced to the House just after the new year. This bill would repeal the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 and some other related laws. If it passes, the bill would require the U.S. membership in the U.N. be terminated at all levels and would prohibit the authorization of U.S. funds being contributed to the U.N. or its military or peacekeeping operations.

While this bill appears to be extremely isolationist, we must look at the consequences and determine if terminating the connection to the U.N. must result in such a culture.

Since the 1945 act was put into effect, the U.S. has been involved in several nation building efforts and other foreign wars, often in conjunction with the U.N.. While the intention was good, the result has been more deadly wars, a growing hatred of America and Americans, and an ever-rising amount of military spending.

The world has come to expect American involvement in their problems. Even when a country’s society is content with the situation, cultures different from ours are often targets of our efforts to save people from themselves. This creates an impression of the U.S. policing the world. We spend so much time and resources thinking we are solving other country’s issues that we forget we have our own problems to deal with and that over 50% of our yearly addition to our debt is in military spending.

By removing ourselves from the U.N., the U.S. can once again focus on defense and build our relationships with economic trades and peaceful communication. If our involvement in war were to become necessary, America would still be strong enough to fight without the U.N.

Just because the U.S. is out of the U.N. does not mean we are headed for isolationism. It simply means we are ready to have our own terms in foreign policy. With this step, we can find peace.

Please see the official Libertarian Party statement regarding foreign policy at https://www.lp.org/issues/foreign-policy/