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The United States needs to do some things better than it has in the past, including improving its image, but it can't walk away from the work of the United Nations.
"We have to participate there," said C. Edward Floyd, '56, of Florence, former chairman of the USC Board of Trustees and current board member representing the 12th Judicial Circuit, who spent last fall as a U.S. public delegate to the U.N. during its 61st General Assembly in New York.
Floyd, a longtime Florence surgeon who has served as a USC trustee since 1982, was appointed to the post last August by President Bush to represent the American public's perspective at the U.N. He served in the position from Sept. 1 through Dec. 23 while living in New York for the duration of his appointment.
"It was one of the greatest experiences, if not the greatest experience of my life," said Floyd, who became a senior member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. during his appointment.
As such, he took part in daily meetings with U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and other members of the delegation and read a 15-minute speech from the General Assembly's podium outlining the United States' position on international agreements relating to the high seas. He also cast the U.S. vote on many U.N. resolutions and six votes that were the only "no" vote among 192 countries.
Floyd took part in a U.N. study group looking into the long-term effect of exposure to radiation and persuaded the U.S. delegation that it was in America's best interest to co-sponsor a resolution extending the study and adding more funding.
"This was a very personal and gratifying experience," said Floyd, who lauded the work of "a lot of very hard-working people" who serve at the U.N., including a large number of "impressive" young people in the United States Foreign Service.
"Getting to know these young people was a great experience," added Floyd, who, while he was in New York, also inquired about setting up joint projects between USC and the U.N.'s University of Peace in Costa Rica, getting USC students into U.N. internships, and having USC students take part in a U.N. college program that brings them to New York for sessions held in the General Assembly's hall.
Though Floyd said dislike of the United States by other countries was obvious at the U.N., he added that many of the member countries probably don't appreciate the good things the United States does for them through U.N. programming. The United States spent $5.6 billion on the U.N. last year, which was 22 percent of the organization's budget, he said.
Many of the U.N. member countries are small nations whose two to three delegates represent the majority of their entire diplomatic corps that conducts most of their foreign policy through the U.N., Floyd said.
"We need to have a working relationship with all the countries," Floyd said. "That helps the United States, too."
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Edward Floyd speaks at the United Nations in fall 2006
