Monday, August 14, 2006

The State Department on the United Nations

The Department of State has a number of interesting documents posted on the website of its Bureau for International Organization Affairs. These include:
* "Founding of the United Nations: 'A Profound Cause of Thanksgiving'" by Gary B. Ostrower
* "The United States and the Founding of the United Nations, August 1941 - October 1945" by Office of the Historian of the U.S. Department of State and
* "U.S. Participation in the United Nations: Our Vision and Priorities" from State's Bureau of Public Affairs
While these do not deal with UNESCO specifically, they may be of interest to many UNESCO fans.

1 comment:

John Daly said...

The United States was perhaps as important in the founding of UNESCO as in the founding of the United Nations, and the two organizations were founded together in the aftermath of World War II. Both were developed on the basis of pre-war models, modifying those models to better achieve broad purposes. Both were made possible by the special conditions that existed at the end of the war, and by the combined efforts of the allies in that war.

Both organizations enjoyed wide public support in the United States six decades ago, but in both cases the organizations have been controversial in the intervening decades. In both cases, reform efforts are continuing today.