Trend Securitisation of science and technology slows international research collaboration

Summary

The essay identifies a spreading securitisation of science and technology driven by geopolitical tension. US-China conflict is slowing the growth of international co-research worldwide, while defence R&D budgets and dual-use civil-military collaboration are expanding. In fields with high shares of international co-authorship, such as energy and the environment, the shares of the EU and the United States are declining while those of China and India are rising. Science-diplomacy frameworks are being rewritten to account for geopolitical conflict, technology competition, the rise of the private sector and research-security threats. The author treats balancing security with openness as the defining challenge for Korea's international science cooperation.