Countries / United States / Dossier
United States
A combined view of United States's UN General Assembly speeches, treaty commitments, and voting record.
The narrative paragraphs below are AI-generated syntheses of the data shown — the tables and figures themselves come directly from the underlying records, not from the AI.
Compare with another country →Speech history
United States General Assembly rhetoric has undergone a marked pivot over the fourteen-year period. From 2006 through 2016, US speeches emphasize multilateralism and liberal internationalism with increasing consistency, particularly from 2008 onward, paired with concrete policy commitments and emotional appeals to shared values. A sharp break occurs in 2019–2020, when multilateralism scores plummet to single digits and rhetoric becomes explicitly nationalist and critical of international institutions, before shifting back toward multilateralist framing in 2023 with notably higher concreteness scores. Throughout, emotional intensity remains consistently elevated, while self-accountability peaks during the 2007–2009 period and again in 2023.
| Session | Multilateralism | Emotional intensity | Concreteness | Self-accountability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Low | High | High | Medium |
| 2007 | Medium | High | High | High |
| 2008 | High | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2009 | Very High | High | High | High |
| 2010 | High | High | High | Medium |
| 2011 | High | High | High | High |
| 2012 | Medium | Very High | Low | Medium |
| 2013 | Medium | High | High | Medium |
| 2015 | High | High | High | Medium |
| 2016 | Very High | High | Medium | Medium |
| 2019 | Very Low | High | High | Medium |
| 2020 | Very Low | High | High | Medium |
| 2023 | Very High | High | High | High |
| 2024 | High | High | High | Medium |
Treaty status
Full treaty record →The United States presents a selective and cautious approach to treaty commitment, with notable gaps in arms control and human rights instruments. It has ratified core environmental agreements—Montreal Protocol, UNFCCC, Desertification Convention—and key anti-corruption conventions, yet signed but has not ratified major instruments on arms control (CTBT, Arms Trade Treaty), climate action (Kyoto Protocol), and children's and women's rights. Most strikingly, it withdrew from the Paris Agreement, and has taken no action on the landmine ban, nuclear weapons prohibition, or Law of the Sea Convention, signaling persistent reservations about restraining sovereignty even through multilateral frameworks.
Arms control & security
- Arms Trade TreatySigned, not ratified
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban TreatySigned, not ratified
- Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their DestructionNo action
- Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear WeaponsNo action
Environment & climate
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their DisposalSigned, not ratified
- Convention on Biological DiversitySigned, not ratified
- Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeSigned, not ratified
- Minamata Convention on MercuryRatified
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone LayerRatified
- Paris AgreementWithdrawn
- Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International TradeSigned, not ratified
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic PollutantsSigned, not ratified
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in AfricaRatified
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeRatified
Human rights
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentRatified
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against WomenSigned, not ratified
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesSigned, not ratified
- Convention on the Rights of the ChildSigned, not ratified
- International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsRatified
International justice
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal CourtSigned, not ratified
Trade & governance
- United Nations Convention against CorruptionRatified
- United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized CrimeRatified
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the SeaNo action
Voting record
Full voting record →The United States votes "no" in a majority of recorded General Assembly votes (3,044 of 5,694), a pattern reflecting its recurring dissent from broad consensus positions, particularly on economic and social rights. It voted against near-unanimous resolutions on the right to food (2006, 2007) and children's rights, and opposed agricultural development and food security measures in 2017–2018 despite overwhelming global support. This contrarian voting pattern—amplified by high abstention rates (1,174 votes)—underscores a tendency to withhold endorsement from redistributive or regulatory global commitments even when consensus is overwhelming.
Notable dissents from consensus
The right to food : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2007-12-18 · voted N · 99% voted yes
The right to food : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2006-12-19 · voted N · 99% voted yes
Rights of the child : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2006-12-19 · voted N · 99% voted yes
Agriculture development, food security and nutrition : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2018-12-20 · voted N · 99% voted yes
Agriculture development, food security and nutrition : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly
2017-12-20 · voted N · 99% voted yes
Human development
Full HDI record →Human Development Index: 0.938 (Very High), ranked #17 globally in 2023.
Combines life expectancy, education, and income into one comparable score, 0 to 1. Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2025 — deterministic figures, not AI-generated.
1990–2023