Two years ago, in an uncharacteristic nod toward multilateralism, the administration of US President George W. Bush ended a 19-year-long US boycott of UNESCO. Today, the US risks isolation in the 191-member organization as the sole country opposing a new convention on cultural diversity.
Until recently, differences had focused on obscure diplomatic phrases. But in the countdown to a final vote next week, negotiations have grown increasingly bitter, with the dispute now assuming political significance and even raising questions about the future role of the US at UNESCO.
The convention's supporters argue that the treaty will protect and promote cultural diversity in the face of cultural globalization, but the US believes it is intended to restrict exports of American audio-visual products, particularly movies and television programs.
On Thursday next week, when the convention is finally to be put to a vote at the headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, everything suggests that the US will be the only country to vote against it.
In fact, the US has already stood alone. On three recent procedural votes related to the convention, it was successively defeated by 54-1, 53-1 and 158-1.
Last-minute lobbying is still under way to avoid a one-against-all outcome, with the 25-nation EU, whose current president is Britain, urging the US to join the consensus. Embarrassed to be at loggerheads with Washington, Britain insists the convention poses none of the dangers identified by the Bush administration.
But Washington is not convinced. Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote to member governments expressing "deep concern" about the convention, calling for postponement of its adoption and warning that it "will only undermine UNESCO's image and sow confusion and conflict rather than cooperation."
Sponsored by France and Canada, two countries that have long used subsidies and quotas to help their movie, television and radio industries to hold back US popular culture, the convention was inspired by a desire to shield culture from international agreements to liberalize trade.
But the final draft falls short of original intentions. Indeed, without "teeth" to enforce its principles, many experts expect the convention to have little impact on what is already a globalized market for cultural products, one in which India's Bollywood, Japanese animation movies and Brazilian and Mexican television soap operas have a place alongside Hollywood blockbusters.
The US nonetheless believes that the final draft is open to misunderstandings that could allow governments to control culture and to block the free flow of ideas and information, its euphemism for Hollywood's exports.
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