The new US administration spent its first day signing several executive orders, including announcing the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO), which alarmed global responders. An online survey conducted by CGTN showed that the "America First" policy cannot lead the US into a new "golden era" and may further deepen the global governance deficit.
In the survey, 68.5 percent of respondents said that the announcement by the new US administration to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and the WHO will prevent global cooperation on climate and health; 77.7 percent of respondents expressed deep concern that the US move will have a negative impact on the international community. Taking the climate issue as an example, some countries that do not want to reduce emissions or are facing pressure from economic transition could be influenced by the U.S. to take a negative stance on emission reduction commitments or even follow the U.S. in withdrawing from the agreements, undermining global efforts to address the real threat of climate change.
As the world's largest economy, the US is an important contributor to many key international organisations and governance mechanisms. The frequent withdrawal of the US from international organizations or agreements not only damages international multilateralism, but also reduces the country's credibility and exposes various domestic policy problems. In the survey, 81.4 percent of respondents said that the actions of the new US administration are irresponsible and they feel disappointed; 77.5 percent believe that it will reduce US credibility and damage its international influence; 78.4 percent believe that the new US administration considers the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the WHO as one way to revise the policies of the Biden administration, reflecting the growing bipartisan confrontation and political polarization in the country.
In fact, the US has always viewed international organisations, institutions and mechanisms from a pragmatic and utilitarian perspective, seeing them as tools to achieve and maintain its global hegemony. Under the idea of 'America First', the new US administration is trying to force international organisations to make concessions on issues such as rule-making, institutional functioning and governance reform by withdrawing from international agreements and organisations. The survey found that 81.6 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. pursuit of self-interest at the expense of international interests will seriously undermine the fairness and equity of the global governance system and harm the legitimate interests of other countries. Faced with current geopolitical conflicts and global challenges, 86.5 percent of respondents call on the international community to strengthen unity, practice true multilateralism, and take joint action to address global issues.
The poll was published on CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian platforms, with more than 7,452 people voting within 24 hours.
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