what does the return of the United States to the organization change?

After five years of separation, it is finally the reunion. The United States is definitely back at UNESCO, a body it left under Donald Trump. In 2017, the American president announced his intention to leave the UN organization in reaction in particular to the decision of Unesco to register the old city of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, in the “world heritage in danger”. The former president then describes it, for his part, as “islamic city“, when Israel claims her as historically Jewish. It had justified its decision by denouncing “anti-Israel bias” of Unesco.

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This is not the only sensational exit decreed at the time by Donald Trump. The United States had already left the Paris climate agreement in June 2017, then the UN Human Rights Council the following year. In 2021, under Joe Biden, the country finally reintegrated both, a way for the new American president to affirm his break with his predecessor.

The presence of Jill Biden at the headquarters of Unesco in Paris, Tuesday, July 25, thus formalizes this time the return of the United States to Unesco. The organization will in fact find its most important contributor: it is the Member States which finance the programs of UNESCO and the American payments represent nearly a quarter of its budget. In addition, the United States has pledged to repay its arrears, ie $619 million, a sum larger than the organization’s budget for a whole year: $534 million.

Countering China’s Growing Influence

The change is all the more important since it has actually been more than ten years since the United States stopped contributing to Unesco. The decision was taken by Barack Obama in 2011, when the UN organization decided to admit Palestine among its members, a step towards its recognition as a state.

For the United States, this return is also a way of opposing the growing influence of China, which has meanwhile become the main contributor to UNESCO. Beijing is also one of the 10 member states out of 193 to have voted against the return of Washington, alongside Iran, Syria or even Russia.

UNESCO is all the more strategic ground for the United States as it is there that international ethical standards on artificial intelligence are being developed. Next December, the organization will even hold a world forum on the subject. The United States has every interest in being present at the event, so as not to leave the field open to China.