I’m a big fan of UNESCO, one of the world’s most prolific and powerful cultural agencies. It stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization—meaning it’s part of the UN.
Videos by TravelAwaits
Most travelers know a thing or two about UNESCO being that we love to visit its most famous sites. Personally, I’m also fascinated with UNESCO’s ‘intangible cultural heritage’ list, which includes art forms that are ancient, unique, and fascinating.
Zooming out, you might be familiar with more well-known UNESCO sites, like the US’s Smoky Mountains National Park or sites across the pond that relate to a specific era, like WWII.
You may have also heard of UNESCO recently because the organization just inscribed 26 new properties after its 47COM meeting. It ‘canonized’ a range of sites from around the world, including megaliths in France, paleolandscapes in the UAE, and ancient capital cities in Turkey. Oh, and that one ultra-famous German castle, Neuschwanstein.
However, shortly after the news of the 47COM’s latest inscriptions, news hit the airwaves that United States had decided to leave UNESCO. (Again.)
So, why would the US pull out of UNESCO, a specialized agency with the goal of promoting world peace through cooperation and intercultural exchange? Especially when the US is one of only five members on the UN Security Council?
A closer look—what is UNESCO? And how does it relate to the UN?
First, let’s dig into UNESCO a little bit more. The UN is a global organization with the goal of promoting international cooperation. The US is a founding member of the UN and a member of the five-state Security Council.
UNESCO is a branch of the UN. The US’s decision to leave UNESCO has no impact on its standing in the UN as a whole.
In fact, US isn’t beholden to join any UN agencies—and it has famously opted out of a few different UN clubs, including the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). I’m not going to get into that, but I highly encourage you to research why the US might not want to be involved in a human rights agency from the world’s largest and most respected international body.
Back to UNESCO. Its goal, aside from simply promoting world peace through intercultural exchange, is also to provide protection, documentation, and education about important sites around the world. They might be natural, manmade, or both.
UNESCO has 194 member states, spanning the globe, and has partners that are governmental, non-governmental, private, and intergovernmental. In other words, there are many entities vested with the power to promote, maintain, and discover the world’s greatest shared heritage sites.
Why is the US leaving UNESCO?
The US, and any other UN member state, can willingly join and/or depart UN agencies. The US first left UNESCO in 2017, during which time President Donald Trump cited ‘anti-Israel bias’.
That decision was later reversed, but it took time to enact the switch. The US official rejoined UNESCO in 2023. Now, the US Department of State has announced plans to withdraw again. According to reports, the US will formally withdraw from UNESCO by December 2026.
According to the US State Department, UNESCO’s globalist agenda is also at odds with the current administration’s ‘America First’ policies. Plus, it looks like UNESCO’s ‘woke, divisive cultural and social causes’ could be viewed as a threat. Additionally, it looks like anti-Israel rhetoric was another issue for the administration.
