Courting Science
Securing the Foundation for a Second American Century

Damon V. Coletta (Author)

9780804798938

Hardback, published 25 May 2016

248 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.666 kg

"Overall, this unique combination of international relations theory and analysis of science policy enlightens and entertains. At a minimum, readers will have a better appreciation for the dynamics underlying national science policy and global cooperation on scientific issues. Some, hopefully, will find something more: motivation to lobby elected officials to prioritize science both in terms of funding and regarding foreign policy goals and strategies."—David Priess, Skeptic

In Courting Science, Damon Coletta offers a novel explanation for the decline of American leadership in world affairs. Whether the American Century ends sooner rather than later may depend on America's capacity for self-reflection and, ultimately, self-restraint when it comes to science, technology, and engineering. Democracy's affinity for advanced technology has to be balanced against scientific research and progress as a global enterprise. In an era of rising challengers to America's lead in the international order and an increasingly globalized civil society, a "Scientific State" has a better chance of extending its dominance. In order to draw closer to this ideal, though, the United States will have to reconsider its grand strategy. It must have a strategy that scrutinizes how tightly it constrains, how narrowly it directs, and how far it trusts American scientists. If given the opportunity, scientists have the potential to lead a second American Century through domestic science and technology policy, international diplomacy, and transnational networks for global governance.

1. A Second American Century
2. Science and the Hegemon: Speaking Truth to Power
3. Power, Polarity, and Hegemony in the 21st Century
4. Science and the American State: Mobilizing Democracy
5. Science and Diplomacy: U.S. Hegemony and the Rise of the Rest
6. Science and Global Governance at the Final Frontier
7. Science, Grand Strategy, and Prospects for American Influence