James A. Leach: “I cannot say that UNESCO is the most important international body that has ever been created. I can say it is a credible…”

“I cannot say that UNESCO is the most important international body that has ever been created. I can say it is a credible international body. The United States chose to withdraw from UNESCO in the 1980s for a variety of reasons. Some stem from management styles; some stem from politicalization on several kinds of issues. But in each of these circumstances, there has been reform. We object to not being reelected to another U.N. body and we may be, in the eyes of some, poor losers. But the fact of the matter is, in UNESCO, we are a poor winner. We have achieved the objectives we wanted. Not to return implies that, when the United States gets its way, we continue to put our head in the sand. It is interesting that Secretary of State George Shultz, who signed the withdrawal notice in the 1980s, now supports returning. There are 188 member nations of UNESCO. While UNESCO does have a cost, for the United States to say we cannot afford our share is a bit awkward for the world's wealthiest country. I do acknowledge that there is a costliness of Paris. Having said that, France was our first ally. For the United States simply to be opposed to institutions in Paris is not a very credible circumstance. Finally, let me say education, science, culture are esoteric. On the other hand, they matter in the world.”