INTRODUCTION
According to Article I of the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
The purpose of the organization is to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law, and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the people of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations (UN).
The philosophy of UNESCO's Constitution according to Hans J Morgenthau, a well-known realist in the field of international relations, assumes that ‘education, cultural exchange, and in general, all activities that tend to increase contacts among members of different nations and make them understand each other contribute necessarily to the creation of an international community and the maintenance of peace’. However, Morgenthau argued that this assumption was wrong. Morgenthau insisted that increased understanding did not necessarily result in increased friendship. Moreover Morgenthau maintained that ‘the more thoroughly one understands the other side's position, character, and intention, the more inevitable the conflict often appears to be’.
Although Morgenthau took a very pessimistic view of the role played by UNESCO, the successful formation of the European Union (EU) and the contribution of the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) to the reduction of tensions between rival countries have vindicated the UNESCO.