March 17, 2019

Carmen Mazijn

With the increased demand for evidence and science-based policy, also diplomats have had to improve their engagement with scientists and scientific research. Due to the specific role of Development Cooperation in diplomatic practices, and considering the limited research done on the topic, development cooperation in Belgium was chosen as case study for this WP. The impact of the Science Diplomacy policies and practices are assessed on willingness, capacity and acceptance of the actors or stakeholders. Through a policy analysis and through interviews with policy makers following question was answered: ‘Are policy officers of development cooperation in Belgium willing, capable and accepting to use scientific research as a diplomatic tool?’ This paper argues that due to the fragmentation of governance in Belgium, it is extra difficult to create a coherent Science Diplomacy policy. However, if they want to keep up in the modernisation of diplomatic policies and practices, they will have to take ownership of the concept and empower their policy officer on all three dimensions.

October 22, 2018

Christopher S. Browning

Recent years have seen an interesting development in practices and policies of nation branding. Alongside an emphasis in which nation branding programmes seek to activate desires of conspicuous consumption in consumers, or to use branded messages to attract investment, there has also been a growing emphasis placed on policy transfer as a part of nation branding strategies. To date, this shift towards the incorporation of policy transfer within nation branding practices had received only limited analysis. Questions that arise, therefore, include: why are countries increasingly shifting their nation branding programmes in this direction? What do they seek to gain by engaging in such exports? And should we take the ostensibly beneficent nature of such practices at face value? The aim of this working paper is therefore to consider what the shift to policy transfer may tell us about the developing politics of nation branding.

October 04, 2018

Riccardo Trobbiani and Simon Schunz

This paper examines how, to what extent and why the EU engages in cultural diplomacy vis-à-vis the US. While providing an empirical review of and conceptual reflection on the current state of the EU’s (including key member states’) efforts at employing cultural diplomacy vis-à-vis the US, the paper also strives to explain the forms of this activity. It argues that a multi-level EU cultural diplomacy in the US does exist, but that its potential is currently underused. The findings of this WP are corroborated by a brief discussion of the potential acceptance of EU cultural action in the US, which highlights how, despite positive perceptions of European culture as such, the EU is hardly recognised as an actor in the field of culture.

September 02, 2018

Begoña Sánchez

Europe and the world face a moment of transformation. The global financial crisis wiped out years of economic and social progress, exposed structural weaknesses in world economies and emphasised the importance of the real economies and strong industries. Modernisation and digitalisation of the industrial base together with the promotion of a competitive framework for industry through research, technology and innovation are drivers for recovery. Innovation, and particularly open innovation, is a key factor of global competitiveness. 

The European Commission addresses international cooperation policy in a wider framework and adapts to the evolving needs of partner countries at different stages of development. The two regions co-operate closely at international level across a broad range of issues and maintain an intensive political dialogue at all levels. This paper focuses on the challenges that innovation nowadays poses to international relations and diplomacy. It is based on the evidence gained by the research team from participation in several EU-LAC projects. 

July 22, 2018

Zane Šime

More than 25 years of multilateral dialogue and cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region has been supported and overseen by the Council of the Baltic Sea States. These developments offer a multitude of insights in the implicit science diplomacy activities, which are presented in order to offer new ideas in the on-going work of honing the overall science diplomacy understanding in the EU setting. Likewise, various EU facilitated science, research and innovation cooperation strands are highlighted as potential avenues for exploring implicit science diplomacy practices adopted by EU or its funded authorities. Examples captured in this concise mapping exercise are presented to support comprehensive reflections on the existing set of practices characterising EU science diplomacy. Some of the lessons learnt, assessments and recommendations are brought into the spotlight in view on further reflecting on the EU Science Diplomacy Strategy.

June 18, 2018

Virginia Proud

In the last 10 years, efforts to understand and harness science diplomacy have gained momentum in both the academic and policy-making world. Much of the conversation around science diplomacy looks in the rear view mirror, where the positive impact of scientific collaboration is easier to see. But if there is an intention, or desire, as expressed in policy circles, that the Commission benefit from science as a forward directed tool of diplomacy, then engagement with the scientific community and understanding their perceptions and attitudes is key. This study, based on in-depth interviews with Horizon 2020 scientific and project coordinators, reveals common attitudes and themes that shed light on how, and how much, to engage scientists in the science diplomacy conversation, with specific recommendations for bridging the gap between the aspirations of policy and science.

May 27, 2018

Richard Higgott

The European Union’s (EU) universities and their provision of higher education (HE) to international students remains one of its most powerful global development and cultural assets. The EU operates a wide-ranging set of strategies to assist Africa in enhancing the quality and quantity of its HE. But an 8% average enrolment rate across all sub-Saharan African nations is still much lower than the average of 20-40% for all other developing regions. Currently, only one percent of total African GDP is spent on higher education. Africa will not grow its graduate labour force relying solely on its public universities and/or public support from international bodies like the EU. International private provision must play a greater role. Yet EU’s strategy towards HE in Africa fails to understand or to engage the private sector to help grow the number of Africans undertaking tertiary study. There has been no effort to learn from the success of international private provision in Asia. This study identifies the benefits and opportunities of international private provision and proposes a set of next steps as part of a targeted ‘strategy of engagement’ for greater international private involvement in higher education in Africa. The EU currently does not, but needs, to play a role in these next steps.

April 23, 2018

Jerneja Penca

Across the policy discourses and academic literature, the popularity of the concept of “science diplomacy” has used the concept in an uncritical manner. This paper aims to understand the concept’s value-added and the implications of its use. It considers the evolution of scientific cooperation and its interaction with foreign policy in the Euro-Mediterranean region. It finds out that many of the goals currently enshrined in “science diplomacy” have already constituted the history of the Euro-Mediterranean relationships since the launch of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The difference with the past is that the EU now has higher political and economic expectations of genuine scientific cooperation. However, in contrast to widening the objectives, the EU has not substantively broadened the tools it avails of. This leads us to expect that the EU’s actual policy in regional scientific cooperation might nevertheless stay the same. While the rhetoric of science diplomacy is of little use, the paper suggests some meaningful questions in the science-foreign policy nexus to replace it.

April 16, 2018

Daniel Gehrt

In recent years, the European Commission has promoted the idea of science diplomacy in various strategic documents. This positive view on international S&T cooperation is linked to the assumption that collaboration is generally beneficial and resulting in a win-win situation for both sides. The question is whether this assumption is maintained when applied to a relatively mature technological domain, with clear commercial interests at stake. In the case study that is underlying the present working paper, we have tested this question by taking the example of EU-China S&T cooperation in the field of solar PV. The result was much clearer than expected: Based on an analysis of strategic documents, a thorough study of concrete Horizon 2020 topics and a number of in-depth interviews with key people in various relevant directorates and units of the European Commission, we can only conclude that there is no intention to foster collaboration with the EU’s main competitor in this technology field.

April 08, 2018

Naciye Selin Senocak

This case study on Turkey is the third of a trilogy of case study reports that assess the view of the EU cultural and science diplomacy from the outside. It provides important insights into the ways in which neighbourhood countries think and behave in these areas, as well as benchmarks against which future evolutions can be tracked. The case study reports are the outcome of impact studies analysing how the EU’s cultural and science diplomacy initiatives are perceived in three Mediterranean countries, namely Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia. The objective is to evaluate the degree to which populations notice and appreciate European culture and science diplomacy actions, and to understand the Southern partners’ image of the EU. Through survey (quantitative study) and interviews (qualitative study), these studies aim at measuring the reception of the EU’s messages in the considered countries. The reports point to the need for information campaigns and feedbacks about the different programmes in order to fill in the existing gap between experts and general public.

April 05, 2018

Antoine Hatzenberger

This case study on Tunisia is the second of a trilogy of case study reports that assess the view of the EU cultural and science diplomacy from the outside. The reports are the outcome of impact studies analysing how the EU’s cultural and science diplomacy initiatives are perceived in three Mediterranean countries, namely Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia. The objective is to evaluate the degree to which populations notice and appreciate European culture and science diplomacy actions, and to understand the Southern partners’ image of the EU. Through survey (quantitative study) and interviews (qualitative study), these studies aim at measuring the reception of the EU’s messages in the considered countries. The reports point to the need for information campaigns and feedbacks about the different programmes in order to fill in the existing gap between experts and general public.

April 03, 2018

Antoine Hatzenberger

This case study on Egypt is part of a trilogy of case study reports that assess the view of the EU cultural and science diplomacy from the outside. The reports are the outcome of impact studies analysing how the EU’s cultural and science diplomacy initiatives are perceived in three Mediterranean countries, namely Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia. The objective is to evaluate the degree to which populations notice and appreciate European culture and science diplomacy actions, and to understand the Southern partners’ image of the EU. Through survey (quantitative study) and interviews (qualitative study), these studies aim at measuring the reception of the EU’s messages in the considered countries. The reports point to the need for information campaigns and feedbacks about the different programmes in order to fill in the existing gap between experts and general public.

March 07, 2018

Glaudio Garcia

This working paper assesses the effectiveness of the implementation of pharmaceutical policies undertaken by two regional organisations - UNASUR and the EU - under the universal access to medicines framework generated by the WHO, by looking at the conditions of willingness, acceptance and capacity of these regional organisations. Results show that engagement in international forums is encouraging positive outcomes in the formulation of regional pharmaceutical policies for improving access to medicines based on the globally-accepted frameworks. Moreover, regional organisations have turned out to be the most effective space for the promotion and implementation of such national pharmaceutical policies, as these are prone to be accepted with less opposition in each nation when a regional organisation backs them up.

February 27, 2018

Nicolas Rüffin

The last decade has seen the emergence of several organisations dedicated to pursue national science diplomacy agendas. This working paper comparatively examines three cases: The UK’s Science and Innovation Network, the Swiss SWISSNEX, and the Danish Innovation Centre Denmark. The three cases each feature distinct characteristics. While SWISSNEX and Innovation Centre Denmark have a strong take on the promotion of domestic research, innovation, and products, UK’s network engages in a broader spectrum of activities and topics at the nexus of science, economics, and foreign policy objectives. Despite differences in their objectives and organisational setup, all agencies have established offices at hotbeds of science and innovation—particularly in the BRICS—, carry out similar tasks on the ground, and focus on comparable topics. While it is unlikely that many new offices will be established in the near future, it is thought that additional growth will be triggered when emerging economies like Brazil, India, or China start to establish their own science diplomacy agencies.

February 06, 2018

Domenico Valenza and Elke Boers

EL-CSID working paper 8 attempts to analyse the European Union’s (EU) cultural diplomacy (CD) efforts in five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, hereinafter ‘Central Asia’). The paper finds that European CD efforts had mixed results due to an inconsistent policy towards the region. Although EU cultural heritage and educational influence are widely acknowledged, Russia remains today the major foreign actor in Central Asia, displaying strong levels of attractiveness among citizenry and elites. Historical and cultural ties, but also institutional and economic efforts allowed Moscow to keep its leading position. However, Russia’s future regional leadership should not be taken for granted, as all Central Asian states have been looking at Moscow’s cultural engagement with increased scepticism.

September 25, 2017

Joren Selleslaghs

The European Union (EU) has adopted a very generous region-to-region approach towards Latin America in recent decades. However, although the EU adopted the same interregional strategy across different policy areas, the quality of interregional interaction (and success) vary significantly. An interesting case of EU-driven interregionalism is the case of EU-Latin America science diplomacy. In this policy area, it seems that the EU’s interregional approach has been particularly successful, as both regions continuously call for the creation and strengthening of a “Common Area for Higher Education, Research and Technology”, and various high-level working groups and action plans have been established to achieve this end. Yet, a critical assessment of EU-Latin America interregional cooperation in the field of science, higher education and innovation has not been produced to date. This paper aims to fill this notable academic (and policy-making) gap by providing a thorough overview of (1) the EU’s drivers behind this particular foreign policy action and the chosen interregional approach; (2) the applied policy instruments and actions of this specific case of EU-Latin American interregional relations; and (3) achieved impact of this specific case of EU-Latin American interregional relations. 

September 21, 2017

Elke Boers

Building on the analytical tools defined by Kingah, Amaya & Van Langenhove (2016) in the EL-CSID Working Paper 1, this paper assesses the willingness, capacity and acceptance of EU SD policies in the Black Sea Region (BSR). This qualitative mapping looks at science initiatives that aimed to enhance regional cooperation, both in the BSR itself and between those countries and the EU. There has been widespread commitment and willingness from the EU and the BSR to involve in science cooperation projects, and the projects under FP6, FP7 and H2020 did not face acceptance issues from national or regional leaders. However, implementation of the envisaged objectives and Action Plans has been quite often lacking or incomplete due to capacity issues or weak political commitment. Much more needs to be done in this area if the EU and the BS countries want to reach the full potential of the H2020 projects. On the other hand, a broader political framework that shows a clear vision of the EU towards the BSR is lacking, as the Black Sea Synergy (BSS) has been inactive and the Eastern Partnership has been gaining more momentum and thus overshadowed the BSS. Moreover, political tensions in the BSR will push the EU to opt for a more careful approach towards the region, where either all stakeholders will have to be better involved, or some stakeholders should be left out to ensure a better functioning of future projects.

September 13, 2017

Nicolas Rüffin, with the cooperation of Ulrich Schreiterer

Both practitioners and scholars tend to regard Science and Technology Agreements (STA) to be important, prominent, and highly effective tools for science diplomacy (SD). Yet it is far from clear whether they form an integral part of strategic approaches toward SD or mostly remain rather erratic ad-hoc agreements with more probably vague or even insignificant roles. Based on a working definition of STA, this case-study report offers a mapping of the STA signed by six countries (DK, FR, DE, CH, UK, U.S.) and the European Union between 1961 and 2016. In addition, through a range of expert interviews, it tries to capture practitioners’ views on the role and workings of STA in the realms of international science policy and SD in particular. The research identifies a large increase in the number of concluded STA over time. While some of the countries in the sample studied made extensive use of STA, others were more hesitant or even reluctant to do so. Still, a strong integration of G20-states in a network of bilateral STA can be observed. To illustrate the highly diverse uses and importance of STA, four cases of negotiations that point to their limited strategic use are presented and four types of views or opinions with regard to the uses of STA are identified. Viewed in their respective political context, some apparently erratic STA provisions turn into meaningful strategic instruments. Overall, STA may carry different meanings to different stakeholders engaged in the negotiations; this is why they always serve as boundary objects. 

July 30, 2017

Naciye Selin Senocak

This paper consists of three sections. Rather than concentrating on differences, we will try to focus on issues of commonality by identifying shared values and principles between Islam and Western values. The first section outlines definitions of the basic/core principles of Islamic values and figures out the controversial Islamic terminology. We decided to study the most controversial Islamic terminology as the source of terrorism and ideology of radical Islam against Western value system such as the dar al-islam and dar al-harb dichotomy, takvir and jihad. We based our study on the Quran and objective interpretation of Islamic terminology by the most distinguished Muslim scholars. The second section introduces ‘briefly’ two distinctive core values of Islam such as freedom and equality their explanation and representation within Quran and the Universal Human Rights Declaration. As a theoretical approach the final section explores radicalisation reasons of young European Muslims and the modus operandi and best practices for cultural integration of the Muslim community in the European secular system.

June 28, 2017

Naciye Selin Senocak

The principal purpose of this theoretical analysis is to identify the different assumptions between Europe and Turkey regarding the axiological perspective which distinguishes the value judgments used as an instrument of persuasion by each culture. For decades, Turkey’s accession process within the EU is a highly controversial issue which has been an intensive process, brimmed with ups and downs. Due to its geopolitical position and cultural identity, as a Muslim secular state, Turkey is a cultural bridge between the West and Muslim countries, making it particularly important in cultural diplomacy for EU foreign policy. Nevertheless, the cultural misunderstanding, the misinterpreted perceptions, the axiological nihilism between Turkey and the EU seems to be the sources of tension for Turkey’s accession. The recent official declaration by both sides, which is dialectic rather than a consensus, has also deteriorated the diplomatic ties established between them, while also underlining the weaknesses of cultural diplomacy. 

April 10, 2017

Riccardo Trobbiani

Drawing upon the analytical tools defined in the EL-CSID Working Paper 1, this paper assesses the willingness, capacity and acceptance sustaining EU broadly-defined Cultural Diplomacy (CD) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The resulting qualitative mapping focuses on policies and initiatives which foster regional cooperation, both around the Mediterranean and among southern countries. The use of cultural tools in EU relations with the Arab world and Israel has received widespread commitment, based on its potential to foster peaceful relations, create opportunities for development and possibly lead towards a convergence of civilisations. The EU and its partners have started to create the conditions for CD initiatives to take place within most regional and inter-regional fora for cooperation with the MENA. This is true within the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, although resources are still insufficient and rely on short-termed instruments. Even more needs to be done to endow the recent political commitment to EU-GCC, EU-Maghreb and EU-LAS cultural cooperation with actual tools for action. Post-Arab Springs MENA countries constitute a fertile ground for EU CD initiatives, despite the difficulties presented in some of them by non-cooperative stances of national authorities and restrictive cultural policies. In this context, the EU is adopting an approach valuing capacity building, intercultural dialogue and people-to-people contacts instead of pure display of European culture(s), but it still needs to clearly define what the use of the term Cultural Diplomacy means in its particular case. More specifically, a regional strategy for Cultural Diplomacy in the MENA is still missing. 

November 14, 2016

Luk Van Langenhove

This paper advocates for the development of a global science diplomacy agenda, consisting of three components: a Science in Global Diplomacy initiative aimed at mobilising the science and technology (S&T) community to carry out research that is relevant for global problems; a Diplomacy for Global Science initiative aimed at facilitating scientific collaborations for dealing with global problems; and a Global Science for Global Diplomacy initiative aimed at developing the institutional nexus between the S&T community and the realm of policy-making at a global level.

June 09, 2016

Luk Van Langenhove

This publication makes part of a collection of six essays edited by the European Policy Centre (EPC) and addressing the following question: Over a five year horizon, what do you think should be the focus of the EU’s multilateral agenda? 

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Prof. Van Langenhove's answer (pp.27-30) suggests that the EU – a world leader in scientific research and innovation – could enhance its effectiveness in the multilateral arena by making better use of its science diplomacy in the realm of foreign policy. The article argues that science diplomacy would add value to EU action on the global stage, particularly with regard to its role as a regional security actor, commercial power and frontrunner in addressing global challenges such as climate change, energy and food security, and societal issues. It concludes that the ongoing EU Global Strategy process should be seized to raise the profile of science diplomacy in EU foreign policy thinking.

May 22, 2016

Stephen Kingah, Ana B. Amaya and Luk Van Langenhove

This inception paper expatiates on the conditions that are necessary in determining the effectiveness of the European Union’s (the EU’s) leadership in science and cultural diplomacy (SCD) on regionalism and inter-regionalism in the South. These conditions include willingness, capacity and acceptance. Willingness delineates the scope of the ambition of the EU in SCD. Capacity covers elements that pertain to breadth and depth/ quality and quantity of resources mobilized and available to lead SCD that delivers results. Acceptance refers to the nature of the credibility that the EU is able to command both within and outside the Union respecting its influence to attract followers both amongst Member States of the Union as well as third states, regional and international organizations. The emphasis of the paper is on effectiveness in terms of impact on regionalism and inter-regionalism in the South. Focus is placed on regional and inter-regional processes/ initiatives in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.