by Mahmoud Fouly
CAIRO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United States' decision to withdraw from dozens of international organizations will harm developing countries and weaken the modern international system, said an Egyptian political expert.
In an interview with Xinhua, Abu-Bakr Al-Desouky, an expert in international relations and editorial advisor for the International Politics magazine at Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram Foundation, said the U.S. move would cut crucial funding to many international organizations, affecting their operations in developing regions.
"The U.S. withdrawal means these organizations will lose U.S. funding, which will inevitably affect the quality and scale of the activities they provide to developing countries," Al-Desouky said. "This will have a significantly negative impact on their performance and weaken their ability to help developing states achieve development goals, humanitarian objectives, and assistance programs."
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Wednesday directing Washington to withdraw from 66 international organizations, including 31 United Nations entities and 35 non-UN entities.
These organizations are mostly related to sectors such as climate, labor, immigration and energy, including key UN bodies like the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN Water, UN Energy, and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
The White House said many of these bodies promote "radical climate policies" and programs that "conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic strength." In a separate statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the entities "wasteful, ineffective, or harmful."
Al-Desouky described the withdrawals as a blow to the foundations of the contemporary international system.
"This is conduct that runs against humanitarian principles and undermines the modern international organizational system that the world has relied on for decades," he said.
Beyond material losses, the move also damages Washington's global standing, Al-Desouky said.
"This behavior negatively affects the global image of the United States," he said. "Washington's image as a supporter of freedom, liberal values, and human rights is collapsing in favor of flawed policies that fail to truly serve U.S. interests. Over time, these policies could backfire against the United States itself."
The 66 organizations add to Washington's earlier exits from the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the decision to prohibit future U.S. funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The UNRWA decision "has had a very serious impact on the agency by depriving it of a major source of funding," he said. "This undermines the credibility of the United States as an impartial mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process."
Al-Desouky argued that the policy shift would hasten the decline of U.S. global dominance and strengthen calls for a multipolar world order.
"In my view, this accelerates the end of the era of U.S. hegemony and unipolarity," he said, adding, "it reinforces the idea of international multipolarity as developing states would seek more credible partners."
The Egyptian expert also said the U.S. retreat would contribute to the rise of alternative international groupings.
"This will enhance the role of alternative international organizations and strengthen the rise of new global frameworks within the international system," Al-Desouky said.
"Organizations led by China and Russia, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, are increasingly positioned as alternatives to Western-led agencies that the United States and Europe have sponsored for decades," he added. ■