Russian Science Diplomacy at a Crossroads

Abstract

Nowadays science diplomacy tends to be one of most relevant and important fields of applied research in International Relations. In general, it can be regarded as a functional expression of both foreign and science policy conducted by states and non-state actors on the world arena. The emergence of the modern concept of science diplomacy has been taking place since the second half of the 2000s and is basically linked to a close intertwining of research and diplomatic practices. Still, most of the existing research works in the above area both in Russia and abroad can be described as somewhat fragmentary and focusing on specific case studies without providing a holistic picture of national science diplomacy models, including the Russian one. Considering this, the author of the article casts light upon the key features of the Russian science diplomacy complex based on a systematic approach and looks into its three main elements, i.e. "science in diplomacy", "diplomacy for science" and "science for diplomacy". In this context, he analyses the activity of the Russian science diplomacy main stakeholders in positive (how it is) and normative (how it should or could be) terms. The synthesis of the respective results reveals structural drawbacks of the system in question, which in 2020 have become even more acute than they used to be before. However, the outlined trends and tendencies infer that the ongoing pandemic did hardly bring on new problems, but can rather be seen as a catalyst for processes, which have already been witnessed in this field. Working from these premises, the author formulates a number of concrete and applicable policy recommendations aimed at optimizing the current practices, which might potentially be of use for decision-makers in Russian science and foreign affairs.