International Science and geopolitics 5,9 msek

Thanks to new research money our professor Sylvia Schwaag Serger will identify similarities but also significant differences between the Cold War period and the current situation. The aim of this project is to shed light on and contribute to a deeper understanding of the evolving relationship between international academic collaboration and a changing geopolitical landscape.

The aim of this project is to shed light on and contribute to a deeper understanding of the evolving relationship between international academic collaboration and a changing geopolitical landscape. In some ways, the question is not new: during the Cold War, policymakers and researchers examined the linkages and frictions between two competing ideologies and super powers, between international scientific collaboration and national defense and security concerns, and between techno-nationalism and techno-globalism. Given the significant changes in the past decades with regard to both geopolitics and the increasing importance of strategic technologies, it is high time to revisit the question of how cross-border scientific collaboration and interconnections relate to concerns over technological sovereignty and increasing geopolitical frictions over the mastery of core technologies.

The research will identify similarities but also significant differences between the Cold War period and the current situation. It will trace and analyze the development of the global enterprise of science against the backdrop of a changing international order, converging (or diverging?) research norms and ethics, and increasingly urgent common societal challenges which require collective and coordinated efforts in research, technological development, and regulations.

Full article in Swedish