The products of science are increasingly celebrated as drivers of global health, sustainable development and wealth creation. However, science and technology are also sources of tension and competition between nations or regions. The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the role of science on the international stage, how it rapidly advanced novel vaccine technologies, and how cooperation over these vaccines became a crucial part of the currency of international negotiations, diplomacy and geopolitics. But conflict also plays a role in mediating the influence of science and technology. Situations such as the war in Ukraine are revealing how careful states need to be with powerful technologies, the way they are transferred and how they are used.

Climate change is one of the many key proving grounds for this work — especially with the rapid opening of ice-free routes through the Arctic Ocean and the geopolitical tensions this is creating. “Big science” projects are also part of this diplomatic landscape, requiring long-term technical and diplomatic engagement among a broad group of stakeholders. These diverse groups must also find ways to manage traditional and emerging global commons fairly and effectively. A final challenge is to find ways to train science diplomats, build capacities and evaluate this work, to create a continual cycle of learning and improvement in the practice of science diplomacy.

The nature and complexity of reciprocal benefits in science is likely to become a more important part of the landscape for science diplomacy, particularly with regional science-diplomacy projects providing a new way to navigate rivalries between bigger global powers. New skill sets and training for science diplomats will be needed to fully explore reciprocity in science.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Science diplomacy plays an important role in a world that is increasingly dominated by issues of science and technology, and frequently fractured by economic and geopolitical events. Researching the use of Science diplomacy for effective multilateralism, for example, can establish successful means of communication and negotiation through shared interests and goals, as well as understanding how science and technology diplomacy is used to further one-sided interests and compete in global markets. The rising influence of private technology firms and local and regional concerns means that Technology diplomacy and the role of non-state actors is an urgent area of research, helping to establish new norms and practices. There is also a growing need to study the effects of alignment between Science diplomacy and emerging economies, since smaller nations are banding together in science and technology projects that increase both their effectiveness and their influence on the global stage. Research is also under way into the role of Science diplomacy as a response to conflict- and inequality-driven tensions; properly grounding this area of study in evidence-based discussion will be crucial to enabling science diplomacy to flourish as a means of establishing trust and cooperation.