White House adviser Susan Rice says Congress must regain US Unesco vote

White House adviser Susan Rice says Congress must regain US Unesco vote

National security adviser uses Twitter to call loss of vote over UN stance on Palestinian membership 'shameful'

Reuters in Washington

theguardian.com, Saturday 9 November 2013 16.21 EST        

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/09/susan-rice-twitter-us-palestine-unesco

The White House national security adviser Susan Rice on Saturday urged Congress to allow the US to regain its vote at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco), which it lost for not paying dues.

Unesco on Friday suspended the voting rights of the US and Israel, two years after both countries stopped paying dues to the UN's cultural arm, to protest its granting full membership to the Palestinians. The US decision to cancel its funding in October 2011 was blamed on American laws that prohibit funding to any UN agency that implies recognition of the Palestinians' demands for their own state.

The withdrawal of US funding – which totaled about $240m, or some 22% of Unesco's budget – has plunged it into a funding crisis and forced it to cut programs. Unesco is responsible for designating World Heritage sites, promoting global education and supporting press freedom, among other tasks.

Analysts have said that by losing its vote, the US is foregoing an important opportunity to exercise "soft power" – the ability to exert international influence through other means than brute force or money. That gap is likely to be filled by other emerging global powers, such as China, they say.

"Unesco directly advances US interests in supporting girls' and women's education, facilitating important scientific research, promoting tolerance, protecting and preserving the world's natural and cultural heritage, supporting freedom of the press, and much more," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday.

It is not the first time the US has been at odds with Unesco. Washington withdrew from the agency in 1984, complaining of wasteful bureaucracy and a third-world bias. The US rejoined the agency in 2002 under President George W Bush, who said it had undertaken needed reforms.

Susan Rice

Susan E. Rice was the United Nations U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration.

Note: Cass R. Sunstein is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to Samantha Power.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the International Rescue Committee.

George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a board member for the International Crisis Group.

Samantha Power was a director at the International Rescue Committee, a board member for the International Crisis Group, is married to Cass R. Sunstein, and the United Nations U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration.