The UN General Assembly has approved a budget of $7.3 billion for peacekeeping missions for the coming year. This, in turn, is $570 million less than last year. The United States said it wants even more cuts. In general, the funds will be spent on 14 peacekeeping missions. Financing in the amount of $6.8 billion has already been approved, allocation of another $500 million must be approved in December this year. The reductions affected, above all, the “blue helmets” operations in the Republic of Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Darfur region of western Sudan. The United States, which makes the largest contribution to the budget of the UN peacekeeping missions, insisted on a significant reduction in the financing of peacekeeping operations, in particular, by $1 billion. Commenting on the decision of the General Assembly, the Permanent Representative of the United States to the World Organization Nikki Hayli stated that it was “just the beginning.” At the same time, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on the contrary, spoke in favor of increasing the peacekeeping budget to $7.97 billion.

So, what do you think about cutting the UN budget for peacekeeping missions?

The Pentagon and the White House are reviewing the US strategy for Afghanistan. In particular, the leadership of the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) is considering expanding combat operations in Afghanistan. It is expected that in July 2017, President Donald Trump will be offered to resume military operations against the Taliban and Hakkani Network terrorist organizations. At present, according to official figures, there are about 8400 US troops in Afghanistan, a quarter of them are special forces specializing in fighting jihadis. In total, there are about 12,000 NATO troops in the country. All of them teach Afghan security forces and take part in strikes on “Islamic State” and “Al Qaeda” militants. At the end of 2014, the Alliance’s non-military operations “Resilient Support” came to replace the forces of the international armed coalition. Earlier it was reported that the Donald Trump Administration considers the issue of sending an additional contingent to Afghanistan. Also, the decision to send additional troops to Afghanistan was agreed within NATO.

So, what do you think about the US considering expansion of combat operations in Afghanistan?

US President Donald Trump canceled agreements with Cuba reached by former President Barack Obama. In particular, D. Trump’s Decree imposed restrictions on tourist trips and strengthened economic policy. First of all, it is about D. Trump’s abolishing the policy of “wet feet, dry feet,” which allowed Cubans who fled to the United States to apply for a residence permit within a year. The embargo will remain valid, too. Despite this, Embassies in Havana and Washington will work, US airlines and cruise liners will be able to carry tourists. However, individual trips of citizens to Cuba will again be banned. It is about the international exchange between countries. The US authorities will control such trips to make sure that the person is a representative of a tourist group and whether or not the travelers are really engaged in educational and cultural exchanges. According to D. Trump, the agreement of B. Obama with the Cuban politicians is “terrible,” it “sows violence and instability in the region.”

In addition, the President added that sanctions against Cuba would remain in force until the Cuban authorities release political prisoners, stop pressuring the dissidents and begin to respect the freedom of speech in the country. D. Trump believes that Cuba has received too many concessions, “deceiving” the US. In turn, the Cuban government condemned the new US president’s policy towards their state and regarded it as a “recession” of Cuban-American relations.

So, how do you feel about D. Trump’s decision to abandon relations with Cuba?