What is science diplomacy?
Where traditional channels may fail, collaborative science can enhance the relations between nations, writes Dr Emma Hennessey
The Biologist 66(1) p26-29
What do scientists and diplomats have in common? At first glance, not much, you might say. In fact, the two fields share common goals – collaboration and partnership – and a colourful history.
The Royal Society, for example, has been involved with science on an international level since its establishment in 1660 – it even had a foreign secretary before the UK Government. One Royal Society foreign secretary, Thomas Young, was among the first to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics; Sir Henry Tizard, foreign secretary during the Second World War, led a mission to the US for the exchange of scientific knowledge in areas such as radar.