Science Diplomacy in British Foreign Policy: Theoretical, Institutional, and Organizational Aspects

In the context of increasingly tense Russian-British relations the UKRussia Year of Science and Education 2017 offered a window of opportunity to re-establish a constructive dialogue on a number of areas of scientific and technological cooperation, as well as to promote track II diplomacy. Joint activities, held during this year, demonstrated a considerable potential of science diplomacy but revealed substantial differences in the Russian and British views of its objectives and functions. This makes it appropriate to examine the United Kingdom’s experience in science diplomacy and its role in British foreign policy. The first section examines the most common working definition of science diplomacy which differentiates between three categories: ‘science in diplomacy’, ‘science for diplomacy’, and ‘diplomacy for science’. Directly linked to national interests, science diplomacy, can be viewed as a source of ‘soft power’, as an effective conflict prevention and resolution mechanism or as an element of the global governance system. Such multidimensionality of science diplomacy is generally typical of the UK as well. The second section thoroughly examines the development of the discourse on science diplomacy in the British official documents and national science and technology development strategies. The author identifies a fundamental continuity in defining objectives and functions of science diplomacy in the policies of all the Cabinets over the last two decades. Finally, this paper examines organizational and institutional features of science diplomacy in the UK and the activities of the key governmental and non-governmental institutions, societies and organizations engaged in science diplomacy. The conclusion is drawn that British science diplomacy is closely connected with the Kingdom’s key foreign policy objectives and priorities and organically complements more conventional instruments. Moreover, science diplomacy has become all the more important in the light of Brexit..

1. Voitolovskii F.G. 2006. ‘Proizvodstvo‘ intellektual’nogo prostranstva mirovoi politiki [‘Producing intellect’ for world politics]. International Trends, vol. 4, no. 2 (11), pp. 100–111. (In Russ.)

2. Dynkin A.A., Barrows M. (eds.). 2016. Global’naya sistema na perelome: puti k novoi normal’nosti [Global system on the brink: Pathways toward a new normal]. Moscow, IMEMO RAN Publ. (In Russ.)

3. Baranovsky V.G., Ivanova N.I. (eds.). 2015. Global’noe upravlenie: vozmozhnosti i riski [Global governance: Opportunities and challenges]. Moscow, IMEMO RAN Publ. (In Russ.)

4. Graims R. 2016. Nauka v Velikobritanii — dialog s pravitel’stvom i obshchestvom [Science in Great Britain — a dialogue with the government and the society]. Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn’, no. 4, pp. 119–125. (In Russ.)

5. Gromyko Al.A. 2007. Velikobritaniya — modernizatsiya na fone traditsii [Great Britain — modernization against a backdrop of traditions]. Vestnik Evropy, no. 19–20. (In Russ.)

6. Strezhneva M.V. (ed.). 2017. Evropeiskii soyuz v global’nom ekonomicheskom upravlenii [European Union in global economic governance]. Moscow, IMEMO RAN Publ. (In Russ.)

7. Zonova T.V. 2007. Sovremennaya diplomatiya: problemy i perspektivy [Modern diplomacy: Problems and perspectives]. Vestnik RUDN. Seriya: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, no. 4, pp. 5–21. (In Russ.)

8. Ibragimova K.A. 2017. Nauchnaya diplomatiya i ramochnye programmy ES kak instrumenty vzaimodeistviya v oblasti NTP i innovatsii [EU science diplomacy and framework programs as instruments of STI cooperation]. MGIMO Review of International Relations, no. 5 (56), pp. 151–168. (In Russ.)

9. Istomin I.A. 2012. Vneshnepoliticheskaya ekspertiza i konstruirovanie mezhdunarodnoi sredy [Foreign policy expertise and transformation of international environment]. International Trends, no. 3, pp. 58–72. (In Russ.)

10. Lebedeva M.M. 1999. Politicheskoe uregulirovanie konfliktov [Political settlement of conflicts]. Moscow, Aspekt Press Publ. (In Russ.)

11. Lebedeva M.M. 2015. Publichnaya diplomatiya v uregulirovanii konfliktov [Public diplomacy in conflict regulation]. International Trends, vol. 13, no. 4 (43), pp. 45–56. (In Russ.)

12. Dynkin A.A. (ed.). 2017. Mir 2035. Global’nyi prognoz [The world in 2035. Global outlook]. Moscow, Magistr Publ. (In Russ.)

13. Nauchnaya diplomatiya v Velikobritanii, Rossii i za ikh predelami [Science diplomacy in the UK, Russia and beyond]. Vestnik Rossiiskogo fonda fundamental’nykh issledovanii, 2018, vol. 97, no. 1, pp. 38–48. (In Russ.)

14. Romanova M.D. 2017. Nauchnaya diplomatiya: izmereniya i praktiki [Science diplomacy: Dimensions and practices]. Nauka. Innovatsii. Obrazovanie, no. 1 (23), pp. 38–52. (In Russ.)

15. Kharitonova E.M. 2016. Imidzhevye kampanii vo vneshnei politike leiboristov i konservatorov v Velikobritanii v kontse 1990–2010 gg. [The British labour and conservatives foreign policy image campaigns from late 1990s to 2010s]. Chelovek. Soobshchestvo. Upravlenie, no. 4, pp. 83–97. (In Russ.)

16. Kharitonova E.M. 2017. ‘Myagkaya sila’ v politike Velikobritanii: bor’ba za tselevye auditorii [Soft power in UK policies: Struggle for target audiences]. Puti k miru i bezopasnosti, no. 2 (53), pp. 28–36. (In Russ.)

17. Kharitonova E.M. 2015. Effektivnost’ ‘myagkoi sily’: problema otsenki [Soft power effectiveness: Problem of evaluation]. World Economy and International Relations, no. 6, pp. 48–58. (In Russ.)

18. Shelyubskaya N.V. 2015. Gosudarstvennoe stimulirovanie intellektual’noi mobil’nosti v Velikobritanii [Government stimulation of intellectual mobility in Great Britain]. Problemy deyatel’nosti uchenogo i nauchnykh kollektivov, no. 1 (31), pp. 115–130. (In Russ.)

19. Shestopal A.V., Litvak N.V. 2016. Nauchnaya diplomatiya. Opyt sovremennoi Frantsii [Science diplomacy: French experience]. MGIMO Review of International Relations, no. 5 (50), pp. 106–114. (In Russ.)

20. The atlas of Islamic world science and innovation. Final report. 2014. The Royal Society. Available at: https://royalsociety.org/~/media/policy/projects/atlasislamic-world/atlas-final-report.PDF (accessed: 25.06.2018).

21. Diamond L., McDonald J. 1996. Multi-track diplomacy: A system approach to peace. 2nd ed. West Hartford, CT, Kumarian Press.

22. Dingwerth K., Pattberg P. 2006. Global governance as a perspective on world politics. Global Governance, no. 12, pp. 185–203.

23. Gluckman P.D., Turekian V., Grimes R.W., Kishi T. 2017. Science diplomacy: A pragmatic perspective from the inside. Science & Diplomacy, vol. 6, no. 4. Available at: http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/article/2018/pragmatic-perspective (accessed: 25.06.2018).

24. Goodare J.R. 2013. Representing science in a divided world: The Royal Society and Cold War Britain. A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Manchester. Available at: https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/54538310/FULL_TEXT.PDF (accessed: 25.06.2018).

25. Grimes R.W., McNulty C. 2016. The Newton Fund: Science and innovation for development and diplomacy. Science & Diplomacy, vol. 5, no. 4. Available at: http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/files/the_newton_fund_0.pdf (accessed: 25.06.2018).

26. Hill C., Beadle S. 2014. The art of attraction. Soft power and the UK’s role in the world. London, British Academy. Available at: http://www.britac.ac.uk/sites/default/files/The%20Art%20of%20Attraction%20Full%20Report.pdf (accessed: 25.06.2018).

27. Leonard М. 1997. Britain TM. Renewing our identity. London, DEMOS.

28. New frontiers in science diplomacy. 2010. London, Royal Society. Available at: https://royalsociety.org/~/media/Royal_Society_Content/policy/publications/2010/4294969468.pdf (accessed: 25.06.2008).

29. Melissen J. (ed.). 2005. The new public diplomacy. Soft power in international relations. New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

30. Nye J. 1990. Soft power. Foreign Policy, no. 80, pp. 153–171.

31. Nye J. 2004. Soft power: The means to success in world politics. New York, Public Affairs.

32. Cooper A.F., Heine J., Ramesh Thakur R. (eds.). 2013. Oxford handbook of modern diplomacy. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

33. Poliakoff M. 2015. The Royal Society, the foreign secretary, and international relations. Science & Diplomacy, vol. 4, no. 1. Available at: http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/files/the_royal_society_the_foreign_secretary_and_international_relations_science__diplomacy_0.pdf (accessed: 25.06.2018).

34. Davis L.S., Patman R.G. (eds.). 2015. Science diplomacy: New day or false dawn? Singapore, World Scientific Publishing.

35. Vosoughi B.S., Roy D., Aral S. 2018. The spread of true and false news online. Science, vol. 359, iss. 6380, pp. 1146–1151.