U.S. decision to withdraw from UNESCO again is blatant act of putting America First

Cartoon by Ma Hongliang

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce recently announced that the U.S. will pull out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the decision will take effect on Dec. 31, 2026.

According to Bruce's statement, the U.S. cited several reasons for its withdrawal, including that UNESCO works to advance divisive social and cultural causes and maintains an outsized focus on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and is at odds with the America First foreign policy.

This will be the third time that the U.S. has left UNESCO. The U.S. first left the organization in 1984 and rejoined in 2003. It exited again in 2017 and returned to the organization in 2023.

The U.S. hasn't paid arrears for a long time while repeatedly joining and withdrawing from the organization. This is not what a responsible major country should do and represents a blatant act of putting America First.