The star-spangled banner gradually rises on the mast, the Eiffel Tower on the horizon, while the American anthem resounds. The United States, led by their first lady, are back at UNESCO, a body they left under Donald Trump. After five years without an American presence within the United Nations organization for education, science and culture, Washington has pulled out all the stops to embody its return. Jill Biden was present in person for the raising of the American flag at the Paris headquarters of Unesco, between those of Portugal and Qatar.
“When we take place within this coalition, we can fight for our values such as democracy, equality and human rights, explained the first lady during a speech. President Biden understands that if we want to help create a better world, the United States cannot do it alone, but we must help lead the way. This is why we are so proud to join Unesco,” she said.
“We are honored to put the star-spangled banner back in its place today,” said UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, happy to “celebrate” “a rare moment, a happy moment in the life of nations”. “In these times of division, tearing (…), we reaffirm our union,” she praised. “In this disunited world where the appetite for power has sometimes led to questioning multilateralism, the return of the United States has a significance that goes beyond Unesco.”
Arriving Monday mid-morning in France, Jill Biden entered the heart of her official visit to France on Tuesday, the first since her husband Joe took over as head of the White House. At the end of the morning, accompanied by their daughter Ashley, she was received at the Elysée by the first French lady Brigitte Macron. The two women, who know each other, had a warm kiss on the steps of the palace. Ashley Biden and Brigitte Macron were also present at the ceremony at Unesco, as were the French Ministers of Education and Culture, Gabriel Attal and Rima Abdul-Malak, but also Judith Pisar, the mother of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, also an American figure in culture.
On Wednesday, Jill Biden will go to the American cemetery in Brittany to “pay tribute to the American soldiers who lost their lives” during the Second World War. She will end her trip to France at the famous Mont-Saint-Michel, a World Heritage Site. Brigitte Macron will also be there.
The United States recently joined UNESCO, after a plebiscite in their favor on June 30 by the member states of this UN organization, and despite the opposition of Russia and China. They had left it under Donald Trump, in 2017, denouncing the “persistent anti-Israeli biases” of this institution. This withdrawal, accompanied by that of Israel, had been effective since December 2018. From 2011 and the admission of Palestine to UNESCO, the United States, then led by Barack Obama, had stopped all funding for the organization.
Their return is part of a general context of growing rivalry with China, while Beijing wishes to transform the international multilateral order put in place after the Second World War, of which UNESCO is an emanation. In March, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken had thus estimated that the American absence allowed China to weigh more than the United States on the rules of artificial intelligence (AI), when Unesco produced a recommendation on the ethics of AI from 2021.
Only ten countries opposed the American return at the end of June, including Iran, Syria, China, North Korea and especially Russia, which had deliberately considerably slowed down the debates, failing to be able to reverse their outcome. The United States had already left Unesco in 1984, under Ronald Reagan, then rejoined it in October 2003. Their return is a financial relief for the organization. Washington has pledged to fully repay its arrears, which amount to 619 million dollars, more than the annual budget of Unesco, estimated at 534 million dollars.