Sources Indicate A U.S. Return To UNESCO Is Likely

A recently proposed congressional resolution and statements by President Clinton are giving some scientists and diplomats the feeling that the United States will soon return to UNESCO after a decade of absence. If so, the group would once again be allowed to hire Americans for scientific, teaching, and administrative positions. UNESCO--the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization--was abandoned by the Reagan administration in December 1983 for what were seen as largely political reasons. One year later, both Great Britain and Singapore followed suit, withdrawing staff, funding, and support. Though some of those familiar with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) eagerly support a return to the organization by the United States and Great Britain, others say such a move would have no scientific merit. "By going back we'd only get good will--maybe," says Gregory Newell, the assistant secretary of state for U.S. multilateral policy from 1982 to 1985 and the architect of the U.S. decision to withdraw from UNESCO. "Scientific work does not happen with UNESCO anymore." Newell says the original reasons for leaving and the only reasons for going back to UNESCO would be political, not scientific: "Is there scientific value to rejoining? Absolutely not." He says there are other U.N. organizations the U.S. can cooperate with that are more effective than UNESCO. When UNESCO was formed in 1945, the agency played a key role in smoothing intercontinental correspondence among scientists, says Newell. He says in the early years, UNESCO was helpful in standardizing communications and convening international scientific meetings or seminars. But because information-exchange systems have advanced, he says, "a scientist from MIT no longer needs UNESCO to hook him up with someone in Mongolia or Nepal. He can now do this on his own or through more specialized organizations." Geophysicist Fred Singer concurs: "Scientifically we certainly would not get our money's worth." According to Singer, currently the director of the Science and Environmental Policy Project in Arlington, Va., an environmental monitoring group, no scientific reason exists for rejoining. "UNESCO has no competence in meteorology or oceanography," he asserts. "The only reason for rejoining would be to demonstrate solidarity or good will." "Right now, things are bubbling," says Jack Fobes, who was a deputy director of the organization from 1971 to 1978. He says a number of high officials in the Clinton administration, such as Vice President Al Gore, science adviser John Gibbons, and deputy Secretary of State Clifton Warden have indicated that they would consider reestablishing ties with UNESCO. The U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO was chiefly prompted by three factors, says Gregory Newell, assistant secretary of state for multilateral policy in the Reagan administration. Newell, who now does international corporate consulting from his home in Provo, Utah, says the factors that caused him to advise President Reagen to cut ties with UNESCO were: * the extraneous politicization of the agency, as evidenced by its attempted expulsion of Israel because of the Palestinian issue; * an endemic hostility toward Western ideals; * significant management problems and budgetary increases larger than those of other U.N. institutions. Newell remains opposed to U.S. membership, although he believes that the 1987 election of Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza, a Spanish biochemist, eased some of the hostility toward Western values. Nevertheless, programs that he objected to a decade ago are still in place and, he contends, little good science is done under UNESCO auspices (see story on page 9). "I would be very resistant to rejoining," he says, "because I think it's wrong. We didn't leave because people were spitting on the American flag; we left because the programs and policies were bad." Those who are encouraging resumed U.S. participation point out that, since his election as director-general, Mayor has attempted to resolve the many political, budgetary, and managerial problems cited by the U.S. and the U.K. as their reasons for withdrawal. For example, in a few months he will be traveling to Israel as a goodwill gesture toward that country. UNESCO's scientific programs include the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) program, the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and the International Commission of Scientific Unions (ICSU). The organization also provides a coordinating structure for six global scientific information networks. Though these programs grew slightly in the last decade despite the absence of the U.S. and Great Britain, the additional funding and scientific expertise these countries could provide would greatly strengthen the agency. The return of two of the world's major powers would mean a significant increase in funding for UNESCO. Estimates put the U.S. contribution at around $55 million a year and the U.K.'s between $11 million and $13 million per year. When the U.S. left 10 years ago, UNESCO's annual operating costs were $400 million. Tom Forstenzer, a UNESCO consultant at the Paris office, laments the absence of what he terms "the U.S. and U.K. scientific, intellectual, and artistic communities" during recent years. "We can't really do our job without the full participation of major communities like that." While the increase in funding helps, he says, the most important impact of reentry by the U.S. and U.K. would be intellectual. Some people remain from before the pullout, but, he says, it's a declining number and an aging group. Philip Hemily, a former UNESCO consultant and currently a staffer at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), suggests that another possible impact of renewed participation would be to strengthen UNESCO's role in the following up on the June 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fobes, who is chairman of Americans for the Universality of UNESCO (AUU), a Washington, D.C., group of former UNESCO diplomats that has monitored the organization since the U.S. withdrawal, says the sympathetic view of many in the Clinton administration makes a return likely. However, Fobes cautions that the administration will make no official statements about UNESCO until an assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs is confirmed by Congress. Clinton's nomination of National Public Radio CEO Douglas Bennet for this position was announced March 5, but a confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled. In Congress, Rep. Esteban Torres (D-Calif.), who was the U.S. ambassador to UNESCO under Jimmy Carter, is introducing a House resolution in the next few months that will, if passed, express the willingness of Congress to return. Because reentering UNESCO is solely an executive decision, this piece of legislation is symbolic and cannot force Clinton to act. Along with Torres, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs' Subcommittee on International Development, Finance, Trade, and Monetary Policy, which would handle UNESCO funding, maintains that the agency has made significant reforms and that the Clinton administration should reconsider U.S. membership. In Great Britain, a group of scientists, educators, and artists called Friends of UNESCO has been holding meetings during the past few months to try to prod their government to rejoin. "There has been no official action in the British government, but much behind-the-scenes activity," says Maurice Goldsmith, chairman of the London group and president of the International Science Policy Foundation. "I understand that the Americans have already made it clear in private deliberations that they propose to reenter. Because Britain would probably not like to go in following on the coattails of the U.S., if an announcement is made, they will probably make it together." However, those watching the organization say a time limit exists. In October, the UNESCO general conference will convene at the group's headquarters in Paris, at which time a six-year direction plan will be adopted and a new director-general will be elected. Mayor has not stated whether he intends to run.

Sources Indicate A U.S. Return To UNESCO Is Likely

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of