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Americans Support Paying Overdue UN Peacekeeping Dues “to Raise U.S. Credibility”

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Democrats and Republicans agree that the U.S. should pay dues owed to the UN peacekeeping budget, according to a new poll released by the Better World Campaign and conducted by Morning Consult.

There is strong alignment across parties, with 87% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans believing the U.S. should pay “immediately” or “over time.”

“Americans understand that our credibility on the world stage depends largely on us following through on our debt obligations,” said Peter Yeo, President of the Better World Campaign. “Paying our assessed and agreed upon dues strengthens our position and favorability in the world and ensures that other nations can’t fill the gap that our arrears have created.”

As of 2023, the U.S. owes more than $1.1 billion to UN peacekeeping missions. These arrears have grown over time because the U.S. Congress has arbitrarily capped American contributions at 25% of the UN peacekeeping budget, which is less than our assessed amount of 27%.

In other findings of the survey, less than half of Americans felt they understood UN peacekeeping, believing the U.S. provides more than 500 troops. The actual number is less than 50 — far less than the more than 2,200 personnel provided by China.

Read the full results here.

Media Contact:

Kathryn Kross | kkross@unfoundation.org | 202-862-8577