The Smashed Mirror of Past Illusions.

This article focuses on the controversy surrounding the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of 1985. After expressing growing irritation with the orientation of certain UNESCO programs, the U.S. government announced its intention of withdrawing from the organization toward the end of 1983. In the letter he addressed to the director-general, Secretary of State George Shultz maintained that UNESCO had strayed from the principles enshrined in its constitution. Unlike all the other specialized UN agencies, UNESCO was invested with a grandiose mission but with no precise competence indispensable to the long-term development of international society.