Integrating Collaborative Research Programmes with Science Diplomacy in UK-ASEAN Relations

This paper examines the research cooperation between the United Kingdom (UK) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from an international relations perspective by using the concept of ‘science diplomacy’ which refers to the role of research and academic collaborations in building the ties that bind different universities and in shaping national or regional foreign policy priorities and interests, including their soft power profiles. The paper focuses on the intangible soft power value that arises through the interactions and opportunities offered by collaborative research programmes in varied forms, including doctoral training for ASEAN's university lecturers. Drawing on cases of the UK-ASEAN research cooperation, particularly the Global Challenges Research Fund announced by the UK Government in late 2015 to support cutting-edge research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries, the author argues that collaborative research programmes play an important role in science diplomacy which engages and influences scholarly audiences in a way that progresses the UK’s and ASEAN’s foreign policy priorities and national interests. Collaborative programmes can serve as enduring and effective vehicles for the ‘humanising’ of foreign policy objectives because they enable and thrive on transnational socialisation between the UK and the ASEAN region. On the one hand, the development of intellectual and social relationships resulted from research cooperation could contribute to consolidating the ASEAN regional identity and on the other hand, enhancing the ability of the UK to participate in and influence regional and bilateral relations, thus contributing to the UK post-Brexit international (re)positioning.