IIASA: Science Diplomacy Made in Vienna

OrganizationsInternational Organizations ♦ Published: February 1, 2021; 13:35 ♦ (Vindobona)

Since the days of the Cold War, Vienna has also played host to "science diplomacy," and it is conducted at Schloss Laxenburg (near Vienna, to be exact). There resides the IIASA international research institute, which was founded in 1972 and today plays a leading role in promoting this concept as a key tool for building trust between nations and supporting foreign policy.

Laxenburg Castle, the seat of International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Gryffindor [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

The culmination of six years of effort by the President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, and the Prime Minister of the USSR, Alexei Kossygin, took place in October 1972 at a meeting between representatives of the Soviet Union, the United States, Austria, and …