After the end of World War II, a great disaster with weight and dimension that paralyzed world politics and economies, the world stepped into a new "age," a period called the "great acceleration." So much so that none of the large or medium-sized global and regional political and economic crises could prevent even more ambitious discoveries in the field of science and technology and major changes that would deeply affect human life. We are experiencing profound technological change that touches every point of life, from the products we use to the production of goods and services, to the construction of buildings, to all the vehicles that enable us to travel from one point to another.
Despite this, opinion leaders in the field of global politics and economy and the scientific community are still unable to adequately evaluate cooperation opportunities to produce permanent solutions to the issues that have deeply affected world politics and the economy for the last 70 years. Global actors and institutions have not yet been able to make the scientific world an important stakeholder of platforms that produce solutions to multilateral global issues. The main reason for this is based on three basic concepts: first, where are we in "science for diplomacy"; second, how effectively do we use "science in diplomacy"; and, third, how successfully do we conduct "diplomacy for science"?
The first issue is "science for diplomacy," which means the strong use of science as a soft power element between countries in global and regional diplomacy. In the COVID-19 global virus epidemic, countries often did not or could not use this opportunity. Türkiye, on the other hand, like always with its inclusive approach, produced its own vaccine, not only for its own citizens but also shared it with many developed countries and geographies, especially in Africa. Therefore, in the coming period, countries with a high capacity to produce science should use science for diplomacy more effectively to focus the multilateral diplomatic world on a more positive agenda. Using science for diplomacy also means building a stronger infrastructure for global and regional peace.
The second critical issue is making use of science and the indisputable evidence provided by science and technology in terms of global and regional issues. The evidence provided by science and technology is so concrete that it is not possible for any country to manipulate, bend or show the present picture differently. For this reason, the more the leading countries of world politics and economy adopt diplomacy based on the "indisputable evidence" provided by science and technology, the more the capacity of international diplomacy to produce solutions will increase. The third critical issue is the mobilization of diplomacy by the leading countries of world politics and economy for more intensive cooperation in the field of science and technology.
Because, if the leading countries are sincere about eliminating the big development differences between developed, developing and underdeveloped economies, especially for sustainable development goals, then they will have to develop global mechanisms that would allow for the "fair" sharing of the developments in the field of science and technology with the bigger part of the world. "Science and technology nationalism" should never be confused with the ability to produce domestic and national technology. Türkiye is one of the countries that most sincerely expresses its call to share its ability to produce domestic and national technology, which it has achieved in many strategic sectors, and to develop technology together with countries that look at the world from the same window. Türkiye's skills in "science diplomacy" will strengthen its role as the "playmaker" country of Eurasia.