Science Diplomacy:
Thinking globally about the biological
and medical field
Mandë Holford, Jesse Ausubel, Rod Nichols
mholford@amnh.org | ausubel@mail.rockefeller.edu |
rod.nichols@verizon.net
RU Science Diplomacy Course 2-13-14
Science Diplomacy = Influencing policies that affect science….
Science Diplomacy = Influencing policies that affect science….
WHY is Science Diplomacy having a resurgence?
Climate Change
Resource Scarcity
Economic
Capacity
Building
Infectious diseases
Conflict Resolution
Global challenges with borderless complexities
WHAT is Science Diplomacy?
Putting your best face forward….
WHY is Science Diplomacy having a resurgence?
We’re the good guys & gals…
Scientists & Technology have high poll numbers
Science Diplomacy engages all elements of traditional diplomacy
Smart
New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy, The Royal Society, 2010
History of Science Diplomacy
Russell-Einstein
Manifesto 1955
Weapons of mass
destruction
First conference
1957, 22 scientists
UK, USA, Japan, Canada,
Australia, Soviet Union
From the silk road to Pugwash….
History of Science Diplomacy
The Rockefeller University &
scientific cooperation between nations in conflict
Physicist Frederick Seitz
President, The Rockefeller University
1966-1978
As member of US Army, participated in
1945 in re-location of German scientists
First leader of the NATO Science Office:
Created fellowship program,
summer studies
Autobiography, A Life in Science
Operation Paperclip!
Joshua Lederberg, President RU
1978-1990
GLOBAL INFECTIOUS DISEASE SURVEILLANCE
AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS: PROMED AND
PROMED-MAIL
Stephen S. Morse, Columbia University, 2007
A Brief History of ProMED and ProMED-Mail
ProMED had its roots in the same Institute of
Medicine report that led to the development of
the Forum on Microbial Threats (IOM, 1992). The
Committee that developed the 1992 IOM report
was chaired by Joshua Lederberg and the late
Robert E. Shope. After the report was released,
there was considerable concern about
maintaining the momentum… In an attempt to fill
what many (including this author) saw as the
fragmentation of disease surveillance systems and
the lack of global capacity, ProMED was begun in
1993 under the auspices of the Federation of
American Scientists…The group held a small initial
organizational meeting in February 1993 at The
Rockefeller University in New York…
Authors: Joshua Lederberg, Robert E.
Shope, and Stanley C. Oaks, Jr., Editors;
Committee on Emerging Microbial
Threats to Health, Institute of Medicine
History of Science Diplomacy
Alexander Keynan, microbiologist,
Adjunct member of RU faculty for many
years
Co-chaired the Committee for Scientific
Cooperation between Israel and Egypt
from 1979 to 1984.
Scientific Cooperation, State Conflict:
The Role of Scientists in Mitigating
International Discord (Annals of the New
York Academy of Sciences, 1998)
Editors, Allison L. De Cerreno and
Alexander Keynan
Torsten Wiesel,President RU 1991-1998
Israeli-Palestinian Science Organization
http://www.ipso-jerusalem.org/
They may come from worlds apart, but leading political and environmental figures from Israel,
Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority have found a common theme to bring them together –
the Great Rift Valley...
The multi-national group – under the moniker of the Dead Sea Triangle (DST) – has met twice
recently, in Jerusalem and at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu… The global aim of the DST initiative is to
provide a platform for dialog though cooperative research and education in the Dead Sea
region. Three leading institutions of higher education, Al-Balqa University (ABU) in Jordan, AlQuds University (AQU) in East Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv University (TAU) in Israel, will each set up
a Dead Sea Research Hub along the shores of the Dead Sea to jointly contend with a series of
scientific challenges common to all three parties.
Dimensions of Science Diplomacy
• Science in Diplomacy: informing foreign policy
objectives
• Diplomacy for Science: facilitating international
science cooperation
• Science for Diplomacy: using science cooperation
to improve international relations between
nations.
WHERE is Science Diplomacy happening?
Practiced by BRIC (Brazil, Russia, China, India) countries…
Viewed as Western phenomena used for resources
Being extended to other emerging states-Rwanda
Science For Diplomacy… conflict nations
New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy, The Royal Society, 2010
Upcoming project
2013-2015
R. Ballard & Co.
Caribbean Sea
Requires cooperation of USA, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia…
Politicizing Science - “How does science taste?”
HOW is Science Diplomacy Practiced?
Five Elements to SD framework:
1. Regional Prominence (China+ India)
2. Capacity Development (education)
3. Joint Infrastructure Development
(Research Satellites, LHC, SESAME)
4. Open Access Knowledge Distribution
5. Public Engagement (Civilian Power)
Barriers to Science Diplomacy
1. Asymmetries in S&T capacity
2. Economic/security concerns to
technology/knowledge access
3. Restrictions on exchange (visa)
4. S&T budgets in decline worldwide
5. Degree classicism (what’s in a name?)
Science Diplomacy Course
• Six week course, meeting once/week
• Weekly guest presentation for SD practitioner
• Group activity for last session (what did you learn?)
• Optional field trip to Washington DC (Week 7)
The History of Science Diplomacy
CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)
to CRDF (Civilian Research Development Foundation)….
CRDF Global…..
CRDF Global….. Cathy Campbell