ABSTRACT
Participation in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is more than a way of making US foreign policy seems multilateral and generous; it is a means of tapping into the comparative wisdom of the rest of the world. Perhaps it would be easier if the victories of UNESCO were better known—the growth of world literacy, for example, or considerably broader access to education, or the progress of women around the globe. Failure is no option; only smooth, effective, and constructive re-engagement. The oscillation has permanent results: even the most internationalist of presidents at the height of an internationalist cycle are haunted by the spectre of nationalism to his right; doubtless nationalist presidents feel equally cowed by the internationalists. A member-state may be forgiven for arguing that the United States should not be rewarded for having all but destroyed UNESCO. The world would have been richer if the United States had been a strong participating member of UNESCO.
