Jesse Helms

About the author: Jesse Helms is a Republican senator from North Carolina and chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

The United Nations is in dire need of reform. Its bureaucracy has grown exponentially; its operating costs are too high; it is ineffective at resolving international conflicts; and it has overstepped its mission, threatening the sovereignty of nations. In order to force the U.N. to fix these problems, the United States should threaten to withdraw from the organization if reforms are not implemented. If reforms are not undertaken, the United States should in fact withdraw from the institution.

Not long ago, while accompanying U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright to an appearance in North Carolina, I was asked by a reporter whether the United States...