The US Backtracks Again on UNESCO

 
Good grief: Angela Charleton, 'US decides to rejoin UNESCO and pay back dues, to counter Chinese influence' AP News June 12, 2023 ) The United States plans to rejoin — and pay more than $600 million in back dues — after a decade-long dispute: U.S. officials say the decision to return was motivated by concern that China is filling the gap left by the U.S. in UNESCO policymaking, notably in setting standards for artificial intelligence and technology education around the world. The U.S. and Israel stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, and the Trump administration decided in 2017 to withdraw from the agency altogether the following year. China’s ambassador to UNESCO, Jin Yang, rebuked the US:

"Being a member of an international organization is a serious issue, and we hope that the return of the U.S. this time means it acknowledges the mission and the goals of the organization,” the ambassador said.

Let us see if the US can manage that this time. The backdues they will pay has reportedly been earmarked for Holocaust education, preserving cultural heritage in Ukraine, journalist safety, and science and technology education in Africa.

There is no word on whether Israel will try to rejoin.

The United States previously pulled out of UNESCO under the Reagan administration in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. It rejoined in 2003.