Science and technology play a significant role in international affairs.1 Many global environmental issues, in particular global climate change and ozone depletion, depend on science and technology.2 Equally, many security concerns focus on the proliferation of weapons technologies and the scientific and technical knowledge associated with uranium enrichment, plutonium reprocessing, radiological sources, viruses, bacteria, and chemical agents.3 Other international debates focus on genetically-modified organisms, intellectual property rights, the exploitation of oceans and marine resources, and the numerous threats to global health by infectious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, SARS, and the recent H5N 1 avian flu virus.4 Finally, information technologies have also enabled a shift of economic power from states to markets and to international financial bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Computerized financial markets, high-tech competence, and competition now also shape economic development and the interactions of states.
展开▼
