The United States has regained membership in UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. left the organization five years ago, and Washington stopped contributing a fifth of the budget in 2011.
A majority of member states voted to resume in a special session, the organization said at its headquarters in Paris. Ten countries voted against Washington’s return, including Russia and China, which is expanding its influence over UNESCO.
Representatives of Russia, the Palestinian Territories and North Korea delayed consideration of the US application due to procedural delays. In addition to the three countries, Belarus, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Nicaragua and Syria also voted against the US resumption.
Often, UNESCO is also a political battleground
“If you really want to say that you’re involved in global cooperation on issues like climate change, freedom of the press or technological and scientific progress, you should be part of UNESCO. Why don’t we work together? Together for scientific and cultural heritage and progress? If you’re on the right side of history, It is also a gain of “soft power”.
Scott Lucas, Professor Emeritus, University of Birmingham
The US government announced in early June that it wanted to rejoin UNESCO. Government sources in Washington expressed concern over the decision that China could take advantage of the gap created by the US withdrawal, particularly on standards for artificial intelligence and technology education.
“The Biden administration has recognized that if you’re not in UNESCO, you’re losing leadership or a leading position to China. There’s going to be some hype about American re-entry. The Chinese are saying you don’t through the Communist Party newspaper. If America wants to gain an advantage over China, let it happen, let’s be honest — The United States has been UNESCO’s largest donor for many years, and they give a lot to UNESCO in terms of cooperation. I think all of this will be welcomed globally.”
Scott Lucas, Professor Emeritus, University of Birmingham
The US State Department justified the return with reforms that would have made UNESCO more effective and new topics such as technology and environmental protection.
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