WI: The US withdrew from the UN in 1971

Reagan, a devoted defender of Taiwan, was incensed, and tried to reach Nixon the night of the vote. Reagan despised the United Nations, which he described as a “kangaroo court” filled with “bums,” and he wanted the U.S. to withdraw from full participation immediately

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/172680

What if in retaliation for the UN voting to recognize the People's Republic of China and expelling Taiwan, the United States announced that it was withdrawing from the UN completely?
 
I think a couple of questions arise here -

Who would take their place as a permanent member of the Security Council or would it continue as four members instead of five?
Would the UN remain in New York or would it move somewhere else, maybe Geneva?
 
At what point did Nixon begin planning the outreach to the PRC? It would be a pretty pointless move to bolt from the UN in a snit over recognition, if he knew that within a year or so he'd be giving the Chinese de facto recognition himself.
 
How about a UN dominated by soviet bloc and nonaligned movement?
USSR is going to pay for the UN operations how? USA was paying around 30% of the UN budget, plus free land in New York.

Without the US and the rest of the 1st World paying for the UN, it's a joke 2nd and 3rd World operation, irrelevant except for PR
 

Khanzeer

Banned
USSR is going to pay for the UN operations how? USA was paying around 30% of the UN budget, plus free land in New York.

Without the US and the rest of the 1st World paying for the UN, it's a joke 2nd and 3rd World operation, irrelevant except for PR
Well in this scenario UN gets reduced to a group of countries finding diplomatic excuse for USSR military interventions in 3rd world countries , significantly downs scaled and financed in part by oil rich countries in the ME
 
At what point did Nixon begin planning the outreach to the PRC? It would be a pretty pointless move to bolt from the UN in a snit over recognition, if he knew that within a year or so he'd be giving the Chinese de facto recognition himself.

That's what bothered me about the whole thing. Nixon was NO good friend to Taiwan based on his outreach to PRC (thanks to Kissinger). Taiwan reminds me of the beautiful & faithful woman getting dumped in favor of the mistress (PRC).
 
Why would Reagan continue to support Taiwan aka "Free China" despite the fact that the Chiang Kaishek regime was a one-man, one-party dictatorship with a dismal human rights record and still having martial law?
 
That's what bothered me about the whole thing. Nixon was NO good friend to Taiwan based on his outreach to PRC (thanks to Kissinger). Taiwan reminds me of the beautiful & faithful woman getting dumped in favor of the mistress (PRC).
Reflection of the facts on the ground. The US had more to gain by recognizing the PRC than by recognizing Taiwan. The SC was made up of four great powers with global power projection... and Taiwan.
 
Taiwan was a political dictatorship, people could work and worship as they please. An authoritarian as opposed to totalitarian maos absolute control of the mainland
 
Reagan may or may not have hated the UN but he also knew he could control it best doing what he was doing. As far as the USA staying in the UN .... keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Cold War. Nasty Times.
 
Reflection of the facts on the ground. The US had more to gain by recognizing the PRC than by recognizing Taiwan. The SC was made up of four great powers with global power projection... and Taiwan.

Yeah, to expand upon 49ers romantic comparisons, the PRC was the mistress with the billion-dollar trust fund, and Taiwan was the proud but penniless wife, who still managed to secure a pretty nice divorce settlement after getting dumped. (Certainly, better off than China's toyboy Albania was after China kicked his ass out of the bed.)
 
Cough cough Chile.

Monroe Doctrine, that he was just too chummy with Fidel and the rest of the 2nd World.
Realpolitik.

But you're not explaining why the KMT got tossed under the bus, where the US supported far worse dictators with similar anti-communist policies
 
Monroe Doctrine, that he was just too chummy with Fidel and the rest of the 2nd World.
Realpolitik.

But you're not explaining why the KMT got tossed under the bus, where the US supported far worse dictators with similar anti-communist policies
The PRC had the power. Plus the US wanted to take advantage of the Sino-Soviet split.
 
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