> Coming up next: The United States wonders why it doesn't have allies anymore and why the rest of the world starts working around them.

I doubt this happens. The US keeps bullying other countries and those same countries keep looking up to the US as if it were a big friendly ally.

isn't this more of an example of employing soft power?

Successful soft power requires you have a seat at the table. When you leave and stop participating, you reduce your soft power.

Sure, but if you are the only one holding up (funding) the table then the whole thing falls apart when you leave.

>Sure, but if you are the only one holding up (funding) the table then the whole thing falls apart when you leave.

Since the US accounts for ~13%[0] of UNESCO funding, you're making GP's point for them. the US is giving up its seat at the table and UNESCO retains 87% of its funding.

[0] https://core.unesco.org/en/sources-of-funding

It’s not giving up soft power, it’s gambling with soft power. The outcome Trump hopes for is that UNESCO fires whoever is setting its “woke” policies and comes back cap-in-hand, offering an agenda that is more to his liking. The risk is that UNESCO ignores the US and finds another patron state that wants to buy some influence - and that’s when the US loses.

Hilariously enough, the state that will step in is probably China.

Like, if you wanted to make China look good on the international stage you'd be doing a lot of the stuff the current administration is doing.

It's very sad, tbh. Like the US gov have always been less good than they claimed, but they've just gone full dark side now (and in such an ineffective way, at least economically).