Now this absolutely bizarre. Here is the USA supposedly acting as the honest broker in the Palestinian-Israel peace talks, yet it refuses to pay its dues to UNESCO. Why? Because the Palestinians have applied for membership of UNESCO. So now the Americans risk being relegated to observer status at UNESCO - the same position the Palestinians occupied.
"As Halloween approaches and Washington's dance macabre, that three-step of sequester, shutdown, and debt, grinds to a temporary halt, the dead hand of Yasir Arafat is reaching out from the grave to yank the United States into a foreign policy disaster hardly anyone has heard of.
Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is about to give the United States a dishonorable discharge (the US could lose its vote at the Unesco general conference). Why? Because America has failed to pay its membership dues. The world's top power is effectively being booted out of the world's top soft power network at a time when soft power is key to global influence in the 21st century.
Notice how America's leaders are not making speeches, the press are not editorializing about this, and even the think tank community has given it a pass despite the fact that we are now well into the final act of the tragedy.
Here's the full play.
Act 1: President Clinton signs the bipartisan 1994 foreign aid bill, with a provision aimed at containing Arafat – requiring an end to US funding of any international institution that might accept the PLO as a member.
Act 2: in 2003, President George W Bush leads us back into Unesco, after two decades of boycott. In the post-9/11 world, the United States recognizes that the spread of freedom and democracy are as crucial in the struggle against extremism and terror as what can be achieved by the force of arms. Since then, under ambassadors appointed by presidents of both parties the US has become a major player in every realm of Unesco.
Act 3: in 2011, the Palestinian Authority – now a quasi-state – decides to assert itself and applies for Unesco membership. The nations who make up Unesco's members vote yes, over American protests; and the 1994 US law kicks in.
When the State Department immediately halted the annual US contribution, it was disastrous for Unesco. It meant not merely an instant 22% cut in income, but since the US pays in arrears, a sinkhole under their budget at the time.
Final Act: thus was the stage set for the finale in Paris next month, unless America ponies up its dues by then. Should that not happen, by sleight of hand from beyond the grave, Arafat will have shifted the United States into the observer role previously occupied by Palestine."
"As Halloween approaches and Washington's dance macabre, that three-step of sequester, shutdown, and debt, grinds to a temporary halt, the dead hand of Yasir Arafat is reaching out from the grave to yank the United States into a foreign policy disaster hardly anyone has heard of.
Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is about to give the United States a dishonorable discharge (the US could lose its vote at the Unesco general conference). Why? Because America has failed to pay its membership dues. The world's top power is effectively being booted out of the world's top soft power network at a time when soft power is key to global influence in the 21st century.
Notice how America's leaders are not making speeches, the press are not editorializing about this, and even the think tank community has given it a pass despite the fact that we are now well into the final act of the tragedy.
Here's the full play.
Act 1: President Clinton signs the bipartisan 1994 foreign aid bill, with a provision aimed at containing Arafat – requiring an end to US funding of any international institution that might accept the PLO as a member.
Act 2: in 2003, President George W Bush leads us back into Unesco, after two decades of boycott. In the post-9/11 world, the United States recognizes that the spread of freedom and democracy are as crucial in the struggle against extremism and terror as what can be achieved by the force of arms. Since then, under ambassadors appointed by presidents of both parties the US has become a major player in every realm of Unesco.
Act 3: in 2011, the Palestinian Authority – now a quasi-state – decides to assert itself and applies for Unesco membership. The nations who make up Unesco's members vote yes, over American protests; and the 1994 US law kicks in.
When the State Department immediately halted the annual US contribution, it was disastrous for Unesco. It meant not merely an instant 22% cut in income, but since the US pays in arrears, a sinkhole under their budget at the time.
Final Act: thus was the stage set for the finale in Paris next month, unless America ponies up its dues by then. Should that not happen, by sleight of hand from beyond the grave, Arafat will have shifted the United States into the observer role previously occupied by Palestine."
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