Energy Diplomacy: The Promise of Nuclear Fusion

For over seventy years, the goal of developing a clean, limitless source of energy has long been a pursuit for the scientific community. Yet it did not become an object of potential diplomatic endeavor until the resolution of the Cold War when the end of the conflict made scientific partnerships and joint projects between the US and the former Soviet Union conceivable. Today, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is also a unique contemporary exercise in science diplomacy and a milestone in the technological history of mankind. This session will discuss the past, present, and future of energy science diplomacy, the current developments in nuclear fusion, and the role of diplomatic action in the realization of this future energy source.