INFORMATION ABOUT PROJECT,
SUPPORTED BY RUSSIAN SCIENCE FOUNDATION

The information is prepared on the basis of data from the information-analytical system RSF, informative part is represented in the author's edition. All rights belong to the authors, the use or reprinting of materials is permitted only with the prior consent of the authors.

COMMON PART

Project Number24-28-01127

Project titleMedical Diplomacy of Modern States: The Concept, Strategies, and Practices

Project LeadArsentyeva Irina

AffiliationInstitute of Philosophy and Law of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,

Research area 08 - HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 08-255 - Global politics

Keywordspandemic, medical diplomacy, global health diplomacy, vaccine diplomacy, vaccine geopolitics, national security, global security

PROJECT CONTENT

Annotation
The relevance of the project is determined by the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on modern states, multiplying their responsibility for the life and health of their citizens. There has been a significant increase in the role of healthcare in all spheres of public life, and the ability of the government to control the spread of the epidemic on its territory has become a significant benchmark for evaluating the efficiency of the policy and a new factor in the formation of the country's international image. The medical vector has also been actualized in diplomacy. Medical diplomacy, which can be defined in the general form as the export of medical aid, goods and services, lies at the intersection of public healthcare and foreign policy. In this regard, the main actors in this project are the states broadcasting the successes of national public health systems in the world arena. At the same time, on the one hand, medical diplomacy has the potential to become one of the channels of communication between states, especially in situations when their relations are in a deep crisis; on the other hand, it can be used for geopolitical purposes. The latter was clearly manifested in 2020-2021, when the vaccine industry began to be regarded as an important element of the national security system, and the coronavirus vaccines were used by their countries-manufacturers as a tool to achieve very specific political goals. Moreover, the vaccines have become a strategic asset influencing the country’s position in the world and forming a new field of geopolitical competition. This project is aimed at the analysis of the strategies and practices of states that actively resort to medical diplomacy in their foreign policy, as well as to assess the Russian potential in this area. Taking into account the forecasts about the beginning of the “era of pandemics”, this may become a stable trend, which means that it is important for understanding the nature and further evolution of international relations. Therefore, this type of diplomacy is one of the most promising areas for scientific research. However, despite numerous works on medical diplomacy in foreign science, this topic has not been sufficiently developed in Russian socio-humanitarian thought yet. These circumstances determine the relevance, novelty, theoretical, and practical significance of the project. In the process of its implementation, it is expected to obtain scientific results that will make a significant contribution to the study of medical diplomacy at the present stage and forecasting trends in its development in the medium and long term. The authors of the project also plan to develop expert recommendations on improving the efficiency of the Russian medical diplomacy. A comprehensive solution to these objectives will, on the one hand, encourage elaboration of a timely response of Russian society to real and potential challenges and threats; on the other hand, it will facilitate intensification of international humanitarian cooperation and searching new ways to reconstruct international relations. Medical diplomacy has the potential to act as a foundation for the development and resumption of a dialogue between states and their citizens, which is especially important given the current international situation.

Expected results
The authors of the project will conduct an in-depth political analysis of medical diplomacy, identify its features at the present stage, and characterize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of global medical diplomacy and medical diplomacy of individual states. Based on the analysis of scientific literature and sources, a classification of areas of medical diplomacy will be developed with a special emphasis on vaccine diplomacy. The possibilities and constraints of the interaction of states as the main actors of medical diplomacy with non-state participants will be determined, and the potential of the latter in the development of international humanitarian cooperation will be revealed. The strategies of Russia, China, India, and some Western countries will be used for the case study, their strengths and weaknesses will be determined. There will be developed expert recommendations aimed at improving the efficiency of Russian medical diplomacy, including through the training of specialists in the relevant field. The obtained results will be published in the form of articles in journals indexed in RSCI, Web of Science, and Scopus, and presented at scientific conferences. The expected results, on the one hand, are focused on obtaining new knowledge, in particular, on the comprehensive realization of the potential of medical diplomacy in the development of international humanitarian cooperation. This is especially relevant for Russian political science, which is still substantially lagging behind in the scientific reflection of this problem. On the other hand, the results received during the study will be used to develop practical recommendations aimed at improving the efficiency of Russian medical diplomacy, which meets the urgent tasks of ensuring national security, and scientific and technological development.

REPORTS