- The United States is taking steps to rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Wall Street Journal reports. The stated goal of doing so is to counter Chinese influence in the program and to keep America engaged in multilateral organizations.
The US left UNESCO under the Trump Presidency due to its recognization of Palestine as a sovereign state. Prior to that, the Obama Administration had also been scaling back payments to UNESCO due to its recognition of Palestine. Those missed payments now total $619 million.
The Biden Administration has promised to pay back all those arrears in exchange for being accepted back into the club. UNESCO has particularly suffered from a 22% budget shortfall it was expecting from the United States.
The vast sum is not inconsequential, especially at a time when the US faces new looming budget shortfalls and greater threats to its security worldwide. UNESCO’s value as a tool to counter China is also unknown, as American soft power is primarily a product of the private domestic economy.
More generally, the decision to engage with the UN is also uncertain to provide good value to Americans. The organization has spent much energy pushing leftist values on the world, whether LGBT, gun control, or anti Israel agenda.
