John Bolton, former UN ambassador under George W. Bush, wants to deliver results ^[1] at the United Nations by making member country’s funding a voluntary contribution, not a mandatory payment.

Bolton believes such a reform would enable the US to have influence commensurate with their level of UN funding, currently 22% of the overall UN budget. “The result of [mandatory funding] is that our contribution becomes like an entitlement,” he said. “There’s no incentive for effective performance, or responsiveness or transparency.”

“If the main UN couldn’t count on its budget being funded by the United States you would have amazing changes in the UN system. ”

“So much of what happens in the UN happens in a bubble that doesn’t really reflect much of the outside world’s reality,” he added.

Bolton spoke at Heritage on September 9th ^[2], describing solutions for problems with the U.N. Heritage scholar Brett Schaefer’s new book ^[3], ConUNdrum: The Limits of the United Nations and the Search for Alternatives, was the topic of the discussion.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCmBlJefhA&feature=player_e[/youtube]