Made official yesterday at the beginning of the new year, the US has now withdrawn from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Along with Israel, the two countries first announced that they would be leaving the organization in October of 2017, citing anti-Israel bias. 

UNESCO—the UN agency that oversees the preservation and protection of culture, communities and architecture—has been at odds with both countries since granting full membership to Palestine in 2011. Due to a 15-year-old amendment that mandates a complete financial cutoff to any United Nations agency that accepts Palestine as a full member, the US stopped funding the organization it helped cofound after World War II. 

Since, UNESCO has remained critical of Israeli occupation in the West Bank and more recently, controversially listed the hotly contested core of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage site. In a tweet celebrating the United States' official withdrawal, former USUN Ambassador Nikki Haley called the Paris-based organization "among the most corrupt and politically biased UN agencies."

The United States also owes the organization $550 million in unpaid dues, another issue leading to the decision to withdrawal. The State Department has maintained they will continue as a non-member "observer state," participating in discussions on culture, education, science, and communication and providing an American perspective. This will include the designation and protection of World Heritage sites, to which a collection of eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings were freshly nominated for potential status.