Unesco.org - UNESCO | Building peace in the minds of men and women

The US left UNESCO once before in 1984, during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, due to claims of politicisation and waste. Until it rejoined in 2003, it continued to participate through observer status - and is likely to pursue a similar strategy now. Other members have also left and rejoined: the UK, South Africa and Singapore.

UNESCO has been credited with the diffusion of national science bureaucracies. In the field of communication, the "free flow of ideas by word and image" has been in UNESCO's constitution from its beginnings, following the experience of the Second World War when control of information was a factor in indoctrinating populations for aggression.

Unesco World Heritage status is particularly valuable for poorer nations. Cambodia's treasured Angkor archaeological areas in one of hundreds of examples of places rescued for human kind. Unesco status unlocked international conservation funding and helped to guarantee its future as a tourist attraction.

Unesco was dependent on the United States for 22 percent of its budget, then about $70 million a year. During the Cold War, the United States withdrew from the agency in 1984 because the Reagan administration deemed the organization too susceptible to Moscow's influence and overly critical of Israel.