Huge barriers to successful science leadership and diplomacy.

Roger Pielke Jr., “The Politicization of Science Diplomacy,” American Enterprise Institute, 02-29-2024, https://www.aei.org/articles/the-politicization-of-science-diplomacy/

The idea of independent experts overseeing research and providing important advice to policy makers sounds great. But actually creating institutional mechanisms for advice, monitoring, and supervision in global public health will not be easy or straightforward.

Consider that the international community, notably the World Health Organization and its member states, have been fundamentally incapable of organizing experts to explore the origins of COVID-19. This failure is not the result of a lack of interest, relevant expertise, or the impossibility of learning more, but rather — domestic, international, and science politics.

Exploring the origins of COVID-19 has potentially large implications for the governments of China and the United States, most directly, and regardless of where such an investigation might lead, it will challenge the practices of some scientists, science administrators, and the organizations where they do their work. For many in leadership positions, the mere idea of investigating COVID-19 origins is taboo for fear that it may lead to uncomfortable knowledge.

If we cannot get our collective act together to investigate COVID-19 origins, how in the world can we organize a functioning scientific advisory mechanism under a global Pandemic Agreement?

The failure thus far to investigate COVID-19 origins is an example of the politicization of science diplomacy that I spoke on a few weeks ago at the 2024 annual meeting of the AAAS.