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The United States withdraws from UNESCO

state.gov

321–330 of 989 posts

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The online space (Reddit, HN, others) is so deeply embedded with groupthink that people have lost the ability to see other points of view or debate topics of interest. To me it's very clear why the government is leaving UNESCO (and over time the UN at large). The UN is dysfunctional and does not work. It used to be a source of soft power for the States, but hasn't been so for the better part of this century. Meanwhil…

Can you define “dysfunctional and does not work”

What has the UN achieved in the last 25 years?

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#322
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The online space (Reddit, HN, others) is so deeply embedded with groupthink that people have lost the ability to see other points of view or debate topics of interest. To me it's very clear why the government is leaving UNESCO (and over time the UN at large). The UN is dysfunctional and does not work. It used to be a source of soft power for the States, but hasn't been so for the better part of this century. Meanwhil…

Why is the US the only country in the world denying Israeli crimes in Gaza? That's how I know the UN no longer matters.

And the Syrian Druze? Christian Syrians. Anyone in the UN speaking up for them. Why just Gaza and not the other civilian casualty events.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#323

Obama withdrew all US funds from UNESCO in 2011 as well, due to Palestine being admitted in. This isn't anything particularly noteworthy, just more capitulating to Israel, which is annoying.

Obama didn't do anything (other than follow the law at the time):

https://web.archive.org/web/20141224180231/https://foreignpo...

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#324
post #40

And it’s wild to think that more than 1/3 of the devs I’ve met in my life support this admin. These are seemingly smart people. The past 10 years or so made me realize I don’t know anything about human nature or intellect. Edit: I am in no way saying conservatism is bad and liberalism is good. I have my values in both.

[deleted]

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Most people didn't actually care about the culture war and wanted to focus on the economy. Unfortunately those people also failed to absorb the fact that the fast-talking grifter was in fact grifting them into supporting him by lying that he is a master of the economy.

The democrats losing support of hispanics, blacks, and men under 50 in the 2024 election is directly a function of the culture war.

If you insist on using the term "Latinx" and every Latino tells you that you are a self righteous idiot, listen to them. If you run the slogan "defund the police" despite inner city populations being the most in favor of police funding, listen to them. If you push the phrase "toxic masculinity" while young men move to the right in droves, listen to them.

And if your response to this is "That's not what those terms mean!", taking a marketing 101 class.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Prosperity gospel. And religious people like to point to charitable giving. But studies performed by religious organizations themselves (who, if anything, are likely to skew the numbers more positively) show that across the board, "Local and national benevolence receives 1 percent of the typical church budget," and an additional 5% goes to "church-run programs" (be it after-school care, social, or group activities).…

Your link is broken. Please fix as I'm very curious to review the evidence here.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The online space (Reddit, HN, others) is so deeply embedded with groupthink that people have lost the ability to see other points of view or debate topics of interest. To me it's very clear why the government is leaving UNESCO (and over time the UN at large). The UN is dysfunctional and does not work. It used to be a source of soft power for the States, but hasn't been so for the better part of this century. Meanwhil…

You say “the UN doesn’t work” apparently because “working” means it being a source of soft power for the US. It had several remits, but its most important is probably the one to prevent a world war. It’s designed specifically as a talking shop to help countries find other ways of resolving disputes than kill people - and promote international understanding . It’s far from perfect, but in general it does a pretty good…

The UN didn't prevent another world war. If you'd want to include an organization, it'd be the UN security council, but not anything else of the UN. And realistically, it's nukes that prevented WW3. It's not a coincidence that the permanent members of the security council, the veto powers, all have nuclear weapons.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#329

This is in response to the flagged comment that, apparently, I cannot comment on. I'm not thrilled about what current US administration is doing when it comes to international NGOs. UNESCO is one example. However, there's also another problem: various UN bodies became tools for international politics instead of doing what they were originally designed to do. It's another example of good will easily subverted by malic…

This should be the top comment. I greatly doubt it's going to be.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#330

“The U.S. began defunding UNESCO under Obama after it admitted Palestine as a full member—and then withdrew entirely during Trump’s first term.” — [ New York Times ]( https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/world/europe/us-withdraw-... ) This isn’t just a blip, but part of a long-term downward trajectory in U.S. and UNESCO relations.

[flagged]

Like the fact that Obama was following laws passed by congress?

https://web.archive.org/web/20141224180231/https://foreignpo...

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