Towards a Destabilising Universality: The Swan Song?

The growing number of countries attending the IBE’s activities, gradually realising real universality, had destabilising effects. The old structures, invented in the 1930s, were no longer capable of guaranteeing its efficient functioning. It became increasingly difficult to preserve neutrality and to limit the IBE’s activities to technical questions. This was on account of the political contradictions arising from the Cold War but even more so because of the process of decolonisation. Negotiations became necessary to define the future of the IBE and led to the decision to integrate it into UNESCO.