No winners in America’s long war with United Nations

THE latest feud between the United States and the United Nations, culminating in the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from Unesco, is another example of the White House attempting to monopolise righteousness in the world.

President Donald Trump has decided that Unesco is biased against Israel, a firm ally of the US, and is nothing more than a burden on American taxpayers. This latter sentiment is particularly remarkable given that US investment in UN agencies is a tiny fraction of what’s spent on the military.

It is debatable whether Unesco has acted inappropriately, as the White House claims. More importantly, should Unesco always have to toe the US line? Of course it shouldn’t. The citizens of the world depend on UN agencies to maintain independence of thought. If prejudice against Tel Aviv has crept into Unesco policy, it will have to be expunged, but in the meantime the United States has no right bullying the UN in an attempt to bring it around to the American position.

Trump is repeating the folly of one of his personal heroes. The Reagan administration withdrew the United States from Unesco in 1983 over its perceived pro-Russian agenda. President George W. Bush mended the break in 2002 intriguingly during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

But Unesco drew Washington’s wrath again in 2011 by granting full voting membership to Palestine. The Obama administration cut US funding to the organisation, in accordance with a law passed in the 1990s mandating the action if any UN agency cooperat- ed with Palestine. Unesco responded by suspending US’ voting rights.

For Trump, the trigger was pulled in June when Unesco criticised Israel on the Jerusalem issue. US withdrawal will have repercussions both on agency funding and its stature. Unesco’s mission is best pursued free of politics. Its fundamental aim is to foster world peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific and cultural reforms. It seeks to universally increase respect for justice, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

No one will argue that the agency has done meaningful work. Its 1978 Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice prompted South Africa, still under apartheid rule, to quit Unesco. Its World Heritage sites ring the globe, each one a cultural wonder worth preserving.

To continue such work, Unesco needs to steer clear of politics. This would be easier to do if influential nations stopped lighting political bonfires under it. — The Nation/Asia News Network