US To Rejoin UNESCO – A Move To Try To Dominate Cultural Policy?

Surprising just about everyone last fall, the Bush administration decided the US should rejoin UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. “The American contribution will be the first since 1984, when the US withdrew in protest against mismanagement, corruption, and Third World bias.” How to interpret the move? “A careful analysis of statements made by administration officials and other politicians reveals that far from being a move towards multilateral collaboration, the decision to rejoin the organisation is seen by the Bush administration as simply another weapon in the US war on terror.”