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Сначала наука, потом дипломатия. Пересборка национальной модели научной дипломатии в России
The emerging and partially already established new geopolitical reality necessitates a "reconfiguration" not only of the entire system of Russian foreign policy principles and instruments, but also of related areas within the international framework of sectoral state policy. It is only natural that Russia, as a scientific power with global interests, is fine-tuning its national model of science diplomacy. In 2025, the Russian government approved a system-forming document in this area—a new version of the Concept of International Scientific and Technical Cooperation of the Russian Federation. The document outlines an evolution toward more active, targeted, and diversified approaches to ISTC and science diplomacy, prioritizing the national agenda while maintaining a global perspective in its formulations.
The ISTC concept is built on the pragmatic principles of national scientific and technological interests and asymmetry with respect to the actions of "unfriendly" countries. The government postulates a number of key instruments of science diplomacy in this area, such as maintaining the presence of Russian scientific organizations and higher education institutions in international projects involving "unfriendly" foreign states. The document focuses on maintaining scientific contacts with representatives of circles in "unfriendly" countries that are constructively disposed toward Russia in the interests of solving the problems of international scientific and technological cooperation. The primacy of national scientific interests over (geo)political considerations and the corresponding populism is clearly articulated.
The document presents a fine-tuning of ISTC instruments, on the one hand, and science diplomacy instruments, on the other. While ISTC, imbued with real scientific and technological substance, is de facto feasible with friendly and neutral jurisdictions, science diplomacy also encompasses unfriendly states, those communities against whom the use of full-fledged ISTC instruments would not pass through the "eye of the needle" of sanctions.
A key feature of Russian science diplomacy is its protectionist, anti-discriminatory focus, driven by the clear demand of the scientific community due to the often unethical and discriminatory nature of actions by "unfriendly" countries.
New developments in the list of forms for activating science diplomacy include the development of scientific-expert dialogue, involving not only experts but also officials, on pressing social and humanitarian issues, with the aim of reducing the potential for conflict in international relations and the active participation of the scientific community in preventing and overcoming crises and conflicts.
The range of scientific diplomacy tools has been significantly strengthened, focusing on enhancing the role of scientific associations as actors in science diplomacy. The emergence of such tools expands the functional scope of Russian science diplomacy, strengthening the "science for diplomacy" component. This group of tools largely appeals to the axiom of the international nature of science, its supranational character, and the underlying premise that scientists themselves, as representatives of the global scientific community, are the key actors in science diplomacy. Large research infrastructure facilities retain a special role for ISTC and science diplomacy. However, the priority areas of scientific knowledge vary; for example, the 2025 version places particular emphasis on nature-based technologies. Another area of modernization of science diplomacy tools is the localization of international scientific events within Russia.
In the ISTC Concept, the Russian Government articulated a distinctive approach to the architecture of a national science diplomacy model: while in most countries it is largely co-opted into foreign policy strategies, Russia espouses a different approach, consistent with the very genesis of the concept: science diplomacy is integrated into national science and technology policy, thereby prioritizing the scientific interests of the country and its scientific community.