The Co-Construction of Nuclear Science and Diplomacy

During the last decade scholars of international affairs and political scientists along with ambassadors and government officials have extensively focused on the role of diplomacy in settling nuclear issues. Yet, the programmatic separation between science and diplomacy and the instrumental use of science that prevails in diplomatic practice come short in explaining the complex nuclear history. To historians of science it has become clear that international collaborations on nuclear matters have strongly overlapped with diplomatic affairs throughout the second half of the 20th century. This relationship between science and diplomacy has been indeed reciprocal: nuclear knowledge and expertise, as well as access to nuclear technologies, have been used as a diplomatic instrument and have formed diplomatic relations. In return, diplomatic affairs have also shaped the nature of nuclear research: the circulation of knowledge, people and materials has been to a large extent a diplomatic matter. On a national level, political forces have been highly influential in shaping nuclear research infrastructure and nuclear experts have guided governmental policy on nuclear energy issues. This session offers a platform to discuss the various ways in which nuclear science and diplomacy have been co-constructed throughout the history of nuclear energy research. We aim a. to obtain new insights in the interplay of nuclear science and diplomacy and b. to move beyond dominant historiographical perspectives on nuclear energy, which too often revolve around US foreign policy matters and cold war narratives.