Summer Symposiums on Science & World Affairs
Over the past 25 years, independent "public-interest" scientists at universities and organizations like UCS have played an increasingly important role in policy debates in the United States. They have, for example, acted as watchdogs over government and industry practices and provided the technical basis for new policy ideas. However, there is lack of—and a great need for—similar experts in other countries, and an ongoing need for new, technically-trained arms control experts in the United States.
The Opportunity
Fortunately, new possibilities for developing independent arms control expertise have opened up in other countries, particularly in Russia, but also increasingly in China and other developing countries. Over the past several years, UCS has identified young scientists in countries around the world who are interested in arms control issues and has encouraged them to work on these issues. The goal of UCS's efforts has been to create a new—and in many cases, a first—generation of scientists with expertise in arms control and security. We anticipate that these scientists will become important voices on security issues in their own countries.
Another goal has been to integrate these scientists into an international community of like-minded scholars and activists who know each other personally as well as professionally. In this way, scientists working in countries where there is only a small community of arms control supporters will benefit from contact with the larger arms control community. Equally important, such an international community allows scientists from different countries to collaborate on what are inherently international problems.
The Symposiums
A key part of this effort is the International Summer Symposiums on Science and World Affairs, which UCS co-organizes. This series of annual international meetings is structured to encourage and assist young scientists in the United States and other countries in making a transition to working on policy-oriented security and arms control issues and to help create an international community of researchers working on these issues. These eight-day meetings have been held yearly since 1989. Each year they bring together roughly 40 scientists from countries including Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Germany, Ukraine, Britain, France, and the United States. The symposiums have been held in Moscow, Russia (1989, 1991, 2000, 2003); Princeton, New Jersey (1990, 2005); Boston, Massachusetts (1993); Überwesel, Germany (1994); Kiev, Ukraine (1995); Beijing, China (1996, 2004); Ithaca, New York (1997); Cambridge, Massachusetts (1998); Shanghai, China (1992, 1999); Berlin, Germany (2001); and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (2002).
The meetings are structured to encourage even newcomers to the field to actively participate rather than to just sit back and listen. Each participant gives a presentation about research he or she has done or is planning to do, and each presentation is followed by group discussion and feedback. Ample informal time is scheduled to allow participants to discuss their research at greater length and depth, and to get to know each other personally.
The Results
The symposiums have led to the establishment of the first independent arms control research center in Russia, based at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and the first program on peace research and education in Pakistan. They have also been important in supporting the first university-based security and arms control studies program in China, at Fudan University.
An important complement to the symposiums is bringing scientists to the United States to work with researchers here before returning to work on arms control and security issues in their home countries. The meetings allow us to identify the scientists who would most benefit from such training and research. Roughly 15 scientists from Russia, China, India, and Pakistan have spent time at UCS as part of the UCS Visiting Scientist Fellowship Program or at MIT or Princeton University.
