A projeção de poder estatal e a transnacionalização de interesses: uma análise da atuação dos Estados Unidos na UNESCO

Abstract

This dissertation realized an investigation about the United States performance in UNESCO. The objective proposed was to comprehend how the United States project out their interests in this institution and what institutional channels are often affected in this relation. To achieve this main goal the case study were used and this analysis was constructed between UNESCO and its biggest contributor. Therefore qualitative methods and tools were predominantly used, such as historical analysis about UNESCO creation and the process tracing used to reconstruct the history about US and UNESCO. In this respect, to reach a good reconstruction, the process tracing was principally directed to investigate the government of each Directors Generals (DGs), structured in documental analysis, discourses delivered by DGs and financial reports published by UNESCO. These tools were very useful to support the hypothesis that US has a powerful finance and discursive representation, but despite of the strong character of this representation, they were not equally faithful to this international organization. The scrutiny of some documents and historical moments allowed identifying that American foreign policy try to reach their interests in international politics using different channels. Wherefore were found that Communication and Information sector (C&I) has been in the last years an important target in US UNESCO relations. Consequently many disagreements among Americans and UNESCOs Executive bodies could be justified by the absence of compliance about the values and ideas that could be projected in world politics. As a result of this divergence of positioning between this state and this International Organization, in at least two different moments in the history was found that American foreign aid destined to UNESCO was suspended generating budgetary weakness and affecting the implementation of many programs and projects. Notwithstanding, the organization have searching for different manners to balance the finances, for example, with campaigns to enlarge the number of non states contributors in order to amplify the extra budgetary resources. Furthermore, were found that UNESCO is inclined to resist the pressures made from richer states revealing a relatively democratic character in institutional decision making.