Brookings: STI for the Arab World

The Brookings Institution has done some interesting studies on science and technology in the Arab States and how S&T cooperation between those states and the U.S. can be useful to U.S. foreign policy. These include:

• Science and Technology in U.S. Relations with the Islamic World

  This is the result of a conference hosted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in January 2005. "A consensus on several recommendations emerged from the workshop. The U.S. should set clear goals for its scientific and technological cooperation with the Islamic world, and develop an over-arching strategy to achieve them. This should be explained to the American public, and optimal use of U.S. public diplomacy in the Islamic world should be made. Industrial and entrepreneurial development must be a priority, but properly funded U.S. engagement should take place at all levels, from primary education to academia, and availing of human resources such as diaspora communities. ICT infrastructure and knowledge accessibility must be improved, and, with suitable attention to national security, hosting of academic visitors and transfer of technology should be facilitated. U.S. - Islamic world collaboration must be a genuine partnership, in which the U.S. listens to its partners and programs are tailored to their priorities. The pursuant possibilities are indeed considerable."

• Untapped Potential: US Science and Technology Cooperation with the Islamic World
  Michael B. d'Arcy and Michael A. Levi, 2005

  Despite widespread and growing public hostility to the United States in the Islamic world, American science and technology are widely admired there. This provides a valuable channel for productive cooperation. By working wisely with scientists and engineers from the Islamic world, the United States could bolster economic and human development and aid in tackling important regional problems like natural resource management, all while strengthening American public diplomacy in the Islamic world. To be certain, some science and technology cooperation, involving certain sensitive subjects, would be unwise, but a prudent balance is well within reach.

• A New Millennium of Knowledge? The Arab Human Development Report on Building a Knowledge Society, Five Years On
  Kristin M. Lord, 2008

  This study assesses what has happened in the five years since the 2003 report was published, what successes towards building a knowledge society have been achieved, what work remains, and what has failed. It analyzes what has occurred in the last five years in terms of governance, education, science and technology, knowledge-based industry, and building a knowledge culture. Drawing on the insights of a distinguished group of experts, it then recommends tangible steps toward achieving the vision of a knowledge society in the coming five years.
  
  Our conclusion is that Arab countries, as a group, have made significant progress in most of these areas, especially compared with their own history. Yet, other regions have advanced even faster and tremendous challenges— such as creating 100 million new jobs for the region’s mushrooming youth population—loom ahead. The Arab world must reinvigorate its efforts or be left behind. Many new initiatives are underway, but it is too soon to assess their impact. Success, ultimately, will be judged by what is achieved, not by what is invested.

• Building an Arab Knowledge Society: How Business Can Help
  Kristen Lord, 2008

  (T)he Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, housed within the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, co-sponsored a workshop on December 11, 2007, with Business for Diplomatic Action, on “Strengthening Science and Technology Engagement with the Arab World: Perspectives from Business.” This is the result of that meeting.