The U.S. Withdrawal from UNESCO under the Reagan Administration: A Multilevel Analysis

The United States positions itself as a global leader and upholder of the world order whose pivotal role in the system of international relations is legitimized through its active participation in multilateral institutions. At the same time, it was the United States which resorted to unilateral actions more often than any other state, exerted significant diplomatic and financial leverage on international organizations to achieve its national interests, undermining the very principle of multilateral cooperation. This inconsistency has been most clearly manifested in the U.S. conflict behavior towards UNESCO — an integral part of the UN system, which focuses on addressing the global issues of the present. In terms of providing a better understanding of the logic behind the formation of the U.S. policy towards this organization and to the UN in general, the case of the first U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO in 1984 under the Reagan administration is of particular interest. On the basis of K. Waltz’s methodology of multilevel analysis the article reconstructs the chronology of the decision-making process, identifies its internal and external determinants, and outlines its key actors. The first section focuses on the systemic constraints that forced the Reagan administration to reconsider its attitude towards the UN system in general and UNESCO in particular. The second section examines the domestic political determinants of the withdrawal decision, centered around the results of complex bargaining between the key players in the American political system, government agencies and interest groups. The third section outlines the motivation and politicalpsychological portraits of individual politicians who were personally interested in pulling USA out of UNESCO. In this regard, the emphasis is given to the figure of the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs G. Newell. In conclusion, the author argues that the withdrawal decision was deliberately made by ideologically motivated politicians in the Reagan administration, despite the alternative voices from Congress, a number of government agencies and civil society. It became a sort of response of the conservative-minded American establishment to changing international status quo, including the realignment of power in the UN specialized agencies.

1. Arsanova T.E. 2021. Rol’ YuNESKO na Blizhnem Vostoke v sovremennykh politicheskikh usloviyakh [UNESCO’s role in the Middle East in modern political conditions]. PhD Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

2. Baryshev A.P. 1974. Strategiya SShA v otnoshenii OON kak organizatsii po podderzhaniyu mezhdunarodnogo mira i bezopasnosti, 1945–1974 [The US strategy towards the United Nations as an organization ensuring international peace and security, 1945–1974]. Doctor of Science Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

3. Belekova A.T. 2008. Problemy i perspektivy deyatel’nosti YuNESKO v kontekste sovremennykh mezhdunarodnykh otnoshenii [Problems and prospects of UNESCO’s activities in the context of modern international relations]. Abstract of PhD Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

4. Borisova A.R., Voitolovskii F.G., Zhuravleva V.Yu. 2016. Podkhody Rossii i SShA k problemam global’nogo upravleniya i reformirovaniya OON [Approaches of Russia and the United States to the problems of global governance and UN reform]. Puti k miru i bezopasnosti, no. 1 (50), pp. 7–23. (In Russ.)

5. Galstyan A. 2018. Faktor evangelistskogo lobbi v amerikano-izrail’skikh otnosheniyakh [The factor of evangelical lobby in American-Israeli relations]. Russian International Affairs Council. Available at: https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/columns/united-states/faktor-evangelistskogo-lobbiv-amerikano-izrailskikh-otnosheniyakh/ (accessed: 15.11.2024). (In Russ.)

6. Garbuzov V.N. 1997. Prezident Ronal’d Reigan i sistema kabinetnogo pravleniya [President Ronald Reagan and the system of cabinet government]. Metamorfozy istorii, no. 1, pp. 222–245. (In Russ.)

7. Dmitrichev T.F. 1972. Parlamentskaya diplomatiya SShA v OON, 1955–1972 gg.: taktika, sredstva, metody i mekhanizm osushchestvleniya politiki amerikanskogo imperializma [U.S. parliamentary diplomacy in the United Nations, 1955–1972: Tactics, tools, methods and the implementation mechanism of American imperialistic policy]. Abstract of PhD Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

8. Yaz’kov E.F. (ed.). 2003. Istoriya noveishego vremeni stran Evropy i Ameriki: 1945–2000 gg. [Contemporary history of European and American countries, 1945–2000]. Moscow, Prostor Publ. (In Russ.)

9. Peeva K.N. 1967. YuNESKO i politiko-pravovye aspekty mezhdunarodnogo kul’turnogo sotrudnichestva [UNESCO and political and legal aspects of international cultural cooperation]. PhD Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

10. Permyakova L.G. 2012. Rossiya i YuNESKO: osnovnye napravleniya sotrudnichestva v sovremennykh usloviyakh [Russia and UNESCO: The main areas of cooperation in modern conditions]. PhD Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

11. Pechatnov V.O., Manykin A.S. 2012. Istoriya vneshnei politiki SShA [History of the U.S. foreign policy]. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya Publ. (In Russ.)

12. Puzon’ V. 1983. Mezhdunarodno-pravovye voprosy organizatsii, kompetentsii, znacheniya i deyatel’nosti YuNESKO na sovremennom etape [International and legal issues of the organization, competence, significance and activities of UNESCO at the present stage]. PhD Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

13. Sarviro Yu.A. 2009. Vnutrennee pravo mezhdunarodnykh organizatsii: na primere YuNESKO [The internal law of international organizations: The case of UNESCO]. PhD Thesis. Moscow. (In Russ.)

14. Sokolov V.A. 2007. SShA I YuNESKO [The USA and UNESCO]. USA & Canada: Economics, Politics, Culture, no. 9 (453), pp. 106–115. (In Russ.)

15. Chernyavskii G.I., Dubova L.L. 2018. Reigan [Reagan]. Moscow, Molodaya gvardiya Publ. (In Russ.)

16. Sharova A.Ya. 1991. SShA i OON: kontseptsii i real’nosti (40–80-e gody) [The USA and the UN: Concepts and realities (1940–1980’s)]. Moscow, Nauka Publ. (In Russ.)

17. Shchipkova E.A. 2014. Politika SShA v otnoshenii spetsializirovannykh finansovykh institutov OON: 2001–2009 gg. [The U.S. policy towards specialized financial institutions of the United Nations, 2001–2009]. PhD Thesis. Tomsk. (In Russ.)

18. Yurchenko M.M. 2010. Politika SShA v otnoshenii reformirovaniya OON: 2001–2008 gg. [The U.S. policy on UN Reform, 2001–2008]. Abstract of PhD Thesis. Tyumen’. (In Russ.)

19. Allison G.T., Zelikow Р. 1999. Essence of decision: Explaining the Cuban missile crisis. New York, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.

20. Borzyskowski von I., Vabulas F. 2019. Hello, goodbye: When do states withdraw from international organizations? The Review of International Organizations, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 335–366. DOI: 10.1007/s11558-019-09352-2.

21. Coate R.A. 1988. Unilateralism, ideology, & US foreign policy: The United States in and out of UNESCO. Boulder, London, Lynne Rienner Publishers.

22. Giffard C.A. 1989. UNESCO and the media. London, Longman.

23. Imber M.F. 1989. The USA, ILO, UNESCO and IAEA: Politicization and withdrawal in the specialized agencies. New York, St. Martin’s Press.

24. Jervis R. 1976. Perception and misperception in international politics. Princeton, Oxford, Princeton University Press.

25. Kfir I.I. 1998. The impact of the new right on the Reagan administration: Kirkpatrick & UNESCO as a test case. PhD Thesis. London.

26. Kindleberger Ch.P. 1976. Systems of international economic organization. In: Calleo D.P. (ed.). Money and the coming world order. New York, New York University Press, pp. 15–40.

27. Kittel G., Rittberger V., Schimmelfennig F. 1995. Between loyalty and exit: Explaining the foreign policy of industrialized countries in the UNESCO crisis (1978–1987). Tübinger Arbeitspapiere zur Internationalen Politik und Friedensforschung, no. 24, pp. 1–25. Available at: https://publikationen.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/handle/10900/47195 (accessed: 15.11.2024).

28. Moore J.A., Pubantz J. 1999. To create a new world: American presidents and the United Nations. New York, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

29. Preston W., Herman E.D., Schiller H.I. 1989. Hope & folly: The US and UNESCO, 1945–1985. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.

30. Reif F. 2013. Die Beziehungen zwischen der UNESCO und den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika mit besonderer Beachtung der multilateralen Bildungsfinanzierung: Was waren die Gründe für und die Konsequenzen des Austritts? UNESCO-Lehrstuhl für Internationale Beziehungen, no. 6, pp. 1–18. Available at: https://tud.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A27343/attachment/ATT-1/ (accessed: 15.11.2024).

31. Rose G. 1998. Neoclassical realism and theories of foreign policy. World Politics, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 144–172. DOI: 10.1017/S0043887100007814.

32. Simon H.A. 1985. Human nature in politics: The dialogue of psychology with political science. The American Political Science Review, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 293–304.

33. Karns M.P., Mingst K.A. (eds.). 1990. The United States and multilateral institutions: Patterns of changing instrumentality and influence. Boston, Unwin Hyman.

34. Waldstein F.A. 1990. Cabinet government: The Reagan management model. In: Hogan J. (ed.). The Reagan years: The record in presidential leadership. Manchester, Manchester University Press, pp. 54–75.

35. Waltz K.N. 1959. Man, the state, and war: A theoretical analysis. New York, Columbia University Press.

36. Waltz K.N. 1979. Theory of international politics. Reading, Addison-Wesley.