New Political Litmus Test for Americans in UN Jobs?

Foreign Policy magazine has obtained a copy of a new questionnaire being used to vet US applicants for UN jobs.  According to the magazine, the questionnaire is being used to vet personnel well below the diplomatic level, including non-political personnel.  Questions include inquiries about participation in social media, support for political candidates, and  other questions that seem to be crafted to test the applicant's political loyalties.

Impactpool, a job search and coaching site reports, for example, that candidates are requested to “provide hyperlinks to any social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) account past/present” with a note ”that it is better not to go through your accounts and delete posts prior to the vetting process as the offending posts are often recoverable by the press in another form.”  Also, the candidates are being asked if they have “given speeches on a controversial issue” or written an “opinion piece that has appeared in a traditional newspaper.”

Impactpool also reports that the United States isn’t the only country screening their UN candidates’ political views: Russia, Cuba and P.R. China are also conducting similar tests of political loyalty.