Diplomacy is an art, not a science. But science is increasingly playing an important role in diplomacy. Some of our future’s biggest challenges—like climate change—can’t be contained within borders, which means that nations around the world need to get on the same page. Meanwhile, science itself can be used as an olive branch: Even when two countries’ political leaders aren’t on good terms, their scientists can exchange ideas, paving the way for more communication down the road. It happened during the Cold War and more recently before U.S.-Cuba relations normalized. So how should science be used in diplomacy?
Join us in Washington, D.C., at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, for a happy hour event at the Arizona State University Washington Center with Frances Colón, deputy science and technology adviser to the secretary of state, and Marga Gual Soler, project director at the Center for Science Diplomacy and assistant research professor at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at ASU. While you enjoy drinks and snacks, Slate staff writer Joshua Keating will discuss science as a platform for diplomacy with Colón and Soler.