What are the politics of rejoining UNESCO?

[Peter K.]

Dorene Cornwell:
>Am I the only one who thinks there is a chance that rejoining UNESCO right
>now could an incredibly cynical effort to buy assent for adventures in Iraq?
>Good for Kofi Annan if he was able to extract that from the Iraq posturing.
>Of course I would also love to know where the US currently stands about
>paying UN DUES.
>
>I have not kept precise score, but I think there is other horsetrading going
>on with individual states and the UN to get buy-in for Iraq stuff
>
>I believe "reforms" have to do with basically gutting the agency in order to
>reduce charges of "bloat."
>
>Research? Hopefully later I will have time to look further.

These are fascinating issues and I'd be interested to learn more.
The US paid its back dues immediately after 9-11, which was
quite a turnabout.

Peter