Do countries that vote against the US trade less with the US - Essay Example

International organizations are meant to make use of democratic procedures in all their decision making since they obtain their legitimacy from the countries they govern. However, the UN appears not to base all its operations on this tenet. This is primarily based on the hypothesis that super countries such as the US use their economic, as well as political might to persuade less superior countries to favor them in their voting endeavors. Varied studies have identified links between UN voting and financial aid from national and institutional donors.

One of the most vital studies found that aid from multilateral donors such as the World Bank and the IMF is determined to a significant extent by countries that make major contributions to these institutions (Oatley and Yackee 416). Therefore, in addition to influencing the flow of their own donations, rich countries such as the US also influence the flow of aid from international donor organizations. Notably, so as to enhance its buy-in of significant powers, the US incorporates in its voting strategies, among others, deviations from majority rule, for instance, through weighted voting and consensus norms in global financial powerhouses such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

A vast majority of international organizations are renowned for their deviations from democratic voting, for instance, through induced voting on account of adverse implications associated with going against countries such as the US. The US is known to make use of its direct, as well as indirect links, to sway voters to vote in their proposals or requirements at the UNGA. The voting strategies employed by the US at the UN are linked to bilateral international aid with global institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.

This is implicit of the fact that elements such as financial aid and trade relations are used to corrupt the process of voting at the UNGA (Oatley and Yackee 417). The corrupt process of indirectly buying votes entices countries such as Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran into voting for the US rather than against it at the United Nations General Assembly. Scholars who have long examined the US Congress poise that the US uses campaign contributions, as well as other special financial endowments, to influence the voting tendencies of other countries at the UN.

Economically endowed countries such as the US both purchase votes and offer financial and political assistance to friendly regimes, particularly in countries that have long experienced political strife, for instance, Syria and Iran. The foreign trade and global economic policies of the US have significantly altered trend in the course of the more than two centuries that the US has been a sovereign country. In the early years of the country’s history, the government and business environment focused intently on the development of the domestic economy regardless of the occurrences in other countries.

However, since the Second World War and the 1930s Great Depression, the US has generally endeavored to coordinate the global economic system and reduce trade barriers (Oatley and Yackee 419). The US’ commitment to free trade has been rooted both in political and economic factors. For instance, the US has increasingly considered open trade as the means through which it can advance its own economic