Science and technology collaboration provides diplomatic openings

One aspect of the recent nuclear nonproliferation agreement between the United States and Iran that received little notice is the collegial relationship that developed between two of the key negotiators. U.S. Energy secretary Ernest Moniz and Iran’s atomic energy chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, reportedly bonded during the long arms-control negotiations in Switzerland. Their connection? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Moniz taught in the physics department and Salehi studied nuclear engineering. With a shared background in nuclear physics, the two were able to find common ground on the complex technical issues at stake and lay the groundwork for the historic deal.

This is just the latest example of a vibrant history of science diplomacy, from the Cold War to today. Driven by a shared respect for the scientific values of transparency and rationality and a common belief in the ability of science to improve the human lot, scientists and engineers can often find points of agreement and diplomatic openings that elude politicians. Examples of successful science diplomacy include the famous 1975 “handshake in space” between a U.S. astronaut and a Soviet cosmonaut, and the 1979 Sino-American science and technology agreement following the opening of formal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China.

More recently, Dr. Marga Gual Soler, assistant research professor at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS) and project director at the AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy, has been at the forefront of ASU’s efforts to bring science, technology, and global policy closer together. She developed an immersive new summer program on Science Diplomacy & Leadership for Latin American science and engineering graduate students in Washington, DC. As part of the long-running Science Outside the Lab (SOtL) program, Dr. Soler’s program widens SOtL’s focus on the place of science in society to the entire Western Hemisphere. With a global emphasis on science policy and how it can benefit international relations, the Science Diplomacy & Leadership program is empowering and connecting the next generation of science diplomats in the Americas.

As she describes in her recent essay in Slate magazine, Dr. Soler also puts her training in biomedicine and science policy into practice. As the liaison between the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Cuban Academy of Sciences, she works to reduce the Cold War-era tensions between the two countries. As these nations open up their diplomatic relations, scientific collaboration will play a pivotal role in building trust and amity between American and Cuban societies.

Dr. Soler’s experiences in science diplomacy help shape SFIS’s international mission of illuminating the complexities of global science policy and how to improve science-related decisions. She also supports ASU’s commitment to global engagement by helping organize the first ASU Faculty Delegation to Cuba, planned for March 2016.

At a recent Future Tense event at ASU’s Washington, DC office, Dr. Soler discussed her work in science diplomacy with Dr. Frances Colón, Deputy Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, and Joshua Keating, foreign policy analyst for Slate magazine. Touching on everything from the cross-border impacts of climate change to the role of citizen scientists in bringing societies together, the wide-ranging discussion riveted the standing-room-only crowd. Watch the video: