Lecture on "New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy" by Professor Daryl Copeland

Professor Copeland currently has a external contract as Senior Advisor for Science Diplomacy at IIASA, and supports the development of strengthening ties between IIASA and Canada. He has visited IIASA on several occasions, including the first meeting of Science and Technology Advisors in foreign ministries which was held at IIASA in October 2016.

Lecture “New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy” Abstract:

In recent years the relationship between science, technology and diplomacy has attracted increasing attention in foreign ministries, international organizations and universities around the world. In that regard, the field is widely assumed to be something new and promising. Yet the broader implications arising from this newfound interest remain mostly ambiguous, science diplomacy remains itself something of an ill-defined, even esoteric undertaking little known outside of specialized circles, and in mainstream diplomatic practice evidence of a renaissance is scarce.

To better understand these challenges, and to help chart the way forward, the following key issues might usefully be examined:

• How has the relationship between science, technology and diplomacy developed over time?
• Is science diplomacy necessarily a tool of progress, or is there a darker side?
• If the case for science diplomacy is so compelling, why does it remain largely outside of the mainstream of international relations, and what are the obstacles or constraints to its wider adoption?
• In the immediate future, both scientists and diplomats will have little choice but to to engage with complex, emerging issues such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cyber security/surveillance...but are they, and if so, to what end? 
• Diplomats on the front lines of the future: will we be negotiating the terms of human survival with robots on the man-machine interface?
• Are there some areas of international S&T collaboration better left unexplored, and if so, how might such a prohibition be achieved, implemented and enforced?

Last edited: 05 April 2018