International scientific policy

Abstract

Just as every country has an economic policy meaning, in very general terms, that every state intervenes to influence production, distribution and consumption so nearly every industrialised nation now has its scientific policy, in which the government takes action to organise and foster research, discovery, invention and innovation. There is, however, no scientific policy, in this sense, at the international level. Neither on a regional nor on a world scale does there exist any supranational authority responsible for working out a common policy in this field. Indeed, it is very doubtful whether such a central institution will ever be desirable or feasible: scientific enterprises and organisations, working on an international scale, are so varied that they could scarcely be managed by a common authority. There would also be immense political obstacles to any such scheme in the present state of international relations. It is said that in no field is international cooperation more feasible than in science and there is some truth in this but willingness to participate in cooperative ventures internationally has its limits even in the sphere of science. The NATO scheme for an International Institute of Technology,1 for example, has come to nothing because the members of NATO were reluctant to mortgage their scientific assets and above all their human assets to such a large-scale undertaking. As a body of truths and procedures or rules, science is universal in its validity and is unaffected by nationality or any other claim to loyalty; but as a resource for national security or aggrandisement, as an instrument of economic and social welfare and collective prestige, science is subject to claims which are at present irresistible. Though there is no such thing as an international scientific policy, there is at least a system of international relations in the scientific sphere. This system is not immune to political stresses and it is greatly affected by the