A good move?

pmaitra

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it had stopped funding UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, following its vote to grant the Palestinians full membership.

Read more: http://defenceforumindia.com/login....9670-be25e46b401ce93be341b033d8983ae119dbae04
Difficult to say from the US perspective.

My views are explained here: http://defenceforumindia.com/international-politics/25108-india-back-palestinian-bid-u-n-membership.html




Thanks for liking my avatar. I guess it could be reasonable to judge others based on their avatars, because they chose that with certain things in mind. At the same time, it could be borderline ad hominem.

Back to topic:
I think India needs to extricate itself from being too friendly with Palestine. Yes, give them humanitarian aid when they are suffering. However, I am ambivalent on this UN support thing, Israel or no Israel. Said that, we should not upset the Israelis too much. No, they are not our allies, but they benefit us more than Palestine does. It should not be seen as sucking up to Israel, rather, being sensitive to a country from which India benefits. It is about India's own selfish interests.

India should also send out the message that the lack of support from the Arab World in the Kashmir conflict, especially when India needed it much, will be met with a reciprocal cold shoulder. We do not need anyone's support for the Kashmir conflict any more. We can let go of 'friends' that have only taken aid from us and posed for pretty photo-shoots but have shied away from supporting us in the times of need.

We need to re-calibrate our foreign policy. Again, I am not advocating opposing this particular UN membership, but India should rest assured, regardless of how pleasant it acts to the Palestinians, that there will be muted or no support from the Arab World for a veto-wielding permanent membership for India in UNSC. Mark my words!
 
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W.G.Ewald

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From an ethical standpoint or a geopolitical standpoint?
First of all this reasoning
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters the United States had no choice but to halt funding because of U.S. laws passed in the 1990s, saying Washington would not make a planned $60 million transfer that was due in November.
seems artificial. That statement raises a question in my mind whether the legislative branch of the USG should be involved with issues which for which the executive branch should be responsible. She further says Palestinian membership in UNESCO would bypass the peace process. (Diplomats can say such things with a straight face.)

So the driving motivations are geopolitical.
 

pmaitra

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(Diplomats can say such things with a straight face.)
When I was in school, we were taught puns and examples thereof. One such example was, "A diplomat lies in a foreign country for the benefit of his own."
 

ejazr

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If you are looking from the US perspective, then it could be quite damaging to US influence.

UNESCO is small fry, but what happens if other important UN bodies start recognizing Palestine? The UNESCO vote showed that the only major countries that voted against was basically US and Germany. Others have either abstained like the UK or voted for like France. So you can expect a similar situation in say the UN intellectual property rights group that helps the US in making sure its IP rights are protected. Or say the IEA where the atomic agency has helped the US in keeping Iran's nuke ambitions in check.

So if the US plans to start withdrawing (by halting payments or budgetary support) from every body that recognizes Palestine, it will affect US ability to influence the multilateral organizations. And if say China starts filling the budgetary gap, then China will gain influence at the US expense.
 

Ray

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Well, one cannot fault the US if they stop monetary assistance to the UNESCO.

If an organisation for reasons, right or wrong, does not toe the official interests of the donor, it is not obliged to salvage it to work against the donor's interest!

That is logic!

It is not damaging to the US since as it is, like it or not, nations lap up her munificence and they abuse her. Take Pakistan!

If it is be damned if you do and be damned if you don't, it is better to be damned and save money since none is grateful anyway!

China does not throw their money where there is no rainbow!

How many bread basket nations has China helped with expecting something in return?

In fact, as a test case, let us see how many countries China salvages if the US stops funding!
 
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ejazr

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Well, granting Palestine membership does not effect any core US interest or something that would affect the US directly. Its more specifically an Israeli interest ofcourse and there are close ties between the US political scene and Israel.

And the multilateral organizations provide the US the ability to influence it because of its large funding. Not because these help individual countries. Think IMF, World Bank the IAEA, the International Civil Aviation authority e.t.c. All of these organisations get most of their funding from the US and listen to the US on standards or granting of loans e.t.c.

If you are not part of the institution, you loose influence to others.

The latimes was touching on this aspect as well
UNESCO Palestine decision sets off U.S.-U.N. confrontation - latimes.com

.
U.S. officials huddled with high-tech lobbyists Monday to warn them that Palestinian membership in the intellectual property group "would have serious implications for U.S. leadership in this organization," the State Department said in a statement.

Other potentially affected organizations include the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has helped Western governments monitor Iran's nuclear program, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization.

"We see considerable potential damage if this move is replicated in other U.N. organizations," said Victoria Nuland, the chief State Department spokeswoman.

Palestinians have talked about seeking membership in additional international bodies, including the World Trade Organization and the International Criminal Court.
.
 

mayfair

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Who gets to represent Palestinians at these international fora?
 

W.G.Ewald

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Who gets to represent Palestinians at these international fora?
That is a good question. There may be a way to be represented without the right to vote as well.
 

ejazr

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Who gets to represent Palestinians at these international fora?
Palestine has a permanent observer mission to the UN and other multilateral bodies. It is below the non-state member status like the Vatican
 

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