"EDUCATION IN GLOBAL SCIENCE AND CONFLICTS

AFTER THE COLD WAR"

1. Earlier in history, a desire to understand cosmos, sometimes led to conflicts with the establishment, constituted of these who wielded the power of religion or state authority. Often, these conflicts involved individual scientists and teachers, and related to conceptual developments. The 20^th century began as “ the century of modern sciences” with great enthusiasm for scientific and technological progress, and yet during the Cold War modern sciences and technology were used as an essential ingredient for national security and national prestige. Science prospered due to conflicts between the USSR (East ) and the USA (West). And during the Cold War natural and social sciences and technology had been addressed the root causes of conflicts, such as leading to social inequalities and poverty; leading to interethnic tension; leading to conflicts over the use of natural resources. One of the most important reasons behind the demise of the USSR was her failure in the race of science/technology that also ended the Cold War. Today science is closely coupled with industry, agriculture, and other production activities and with the governmental and inter-governmental sectors. Moreover, scientific and technological progress has made possible the construction of sophisticated weapons, including atomic, biological and chemical ones. And due to fast progress in science and high-tech communication the whole world has changed majorly. Meanwhile the processes of globalization have also given a new vision to the political configurations in science and in education by changing the major part of the concepts for the educational evolution of the state, the scientific policy of state, scientific and educational societies, schools, universities, publications, etc., while defining and shaping some new dimensions or a new way.

2. In this stage new relationships between science/technology and the huge companies and a new “contract” between the scientific community and society will be shaped by “The Global Education and Research in Science/Technology“ (GERST) through high-cost mega science projects, as also very large efforts involving international collaborations; the process of standartization in academic degrees and the equivalencies established in diplomas via common education and global information (internet); electronic publications; ethics of scientific knowledge and technology; etc. (Akdeniz 1995). On the other hand these GERST programmes call for wholly new forms of organizations and management’s in scientific and educational societies, more characteristic of industry than academia and education. To make the internationalization in science and in education globalization and integration succeed, scientists and teachers have to release, time after time, top-class or top-labwork and put in an enthusiastic and serious showing at political venues. There are good reasons for thinking that the intellectual and scientific “breaks” are necessary to be applied to proceed with more caution in human demands associated with effective, integrated world’s governance.. We also have to keep in mind that science/technology is able to change the world better, to improve the quality of life, but it is also true that its application can have adverse effects on the world. Pollution (the hazards of radiation, the Green- House effect, desertification, etc.) which is growing fast. Another aspect is the actual gap between North and South countries, or a high standard of living based on people without food. It is quite important considering that the world population could double to over 10 billions in 21-st century. This huge increase will happen, can you imagine what kind of world it will be like, and what problems will have to be faced. At least the double the amount of food to satisfy consumption, the urgent problem of the scarcity of usable water the need more and cheaper power, the need for the technological solutions that improve the efficiency of energy production and more over, the immense environmental challenges facing the next century, despite scientific disagreement etc. And finally the UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology was established. The Commission met first time in Oslo from 28-30 April 1999 has the following mandate (V. Finnbogadotir, 1999):

- to serve as an intellectual forum for the exchange of ideas and experience;

- to detect, on that basis, the early signs of risk situations;

- to fulfil an advisory role for decision-makers in this respect; and

- to promote dialogue between scientific communities, decision-makers and the public at large.

- Also to play a crucial role in improving international scientific cooperation, particularly between developing and developed countries.

Above all these global problems the worst case to occur is the also possibility of GERST getting exploited by “the major powers” to foster their own economic, political and cultural interests rather than solve the global problems of the world. It is questionable also that the programmes of GERST can be beneficial to regional peace and to the peaceful development of civilization in South. As observed in the case of Balkans in these days, it is certain that GERST programs will never be able to provide the solution to central search for peace, harmony and tolerance.

3. As an example and as a laboratory, the role of science in the Balkans can be investigated: Balkan is part of Europe, Europe’s south-eastern peninsula, where the Western Civilization was born. People lived together in this region for many years under the Byzantine and Ottoman authorities. A historical fact that led to the creation of a common Balkan culture. The French Revolution effected this region as well, and during the Cold War the region’s people were kept apart in two different worlds by centralised political aims. With the end of the Cold War the Balkan people gained back their opportunity to recapture their cultural inheritance. Let us consider the role of physics in Balkans; today there are about 15 000 physicists, 200 universities and 20 large national research centres in physics in the Balkan countries.

Balkan Physical Union (BPU) is one of the most active non-governmental organisation in the Balkans. BPU was established in 1985 in Kosova. Today, members of BPU are the national physical societies of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia. Until the Tirana Declaration that was endorsed by BPU members in Tirana in 1990, BPU member countries had little direct knowledge of each other’s scientific potential in physics due to centralised governments whose political strategy was to keep countries apart. The Declaration announced the intention to promote and improve science, as well as the exchange of knowledge and information through links to be established among scientists that would lead to joint research projects and common programmes in the Balkan countries.

The stimulus provided by the Tirana Declaration in 1990 led to the first major activities of BPU: (i) The Balkan Schools of Physics (The first school was held in Istanbul, in 1991), (ii) General Physics Conferences of BPU; the first of which (BPU-1) was held in Thessaloniki, Greece in September 1991 where more than 600 physicists from the Balkans came together for the first time in the history of science. 2^nd BPU General Physics Conference (BPU-3) was held in Izmir, Turkey in September 1994 at which 800 physicists from the Balkans participated and more than 1000 Balkan physicists met again at BPU-3 in Cluj_Napoca, Romania in September 1997. (iii) The BPU Physics Students Branch was established to promote friendship among the Balkan students by the Balkan Physics Student Conferences. (iv) The BPU also started to publish a scientific journal in 1993 entitled Balkan Physics Letters (BPL). The more information about BPU activities can be found in (Akdeniz 1996).

4. During as well as after the Cold War, the physicists from the Balkan had been extremely supported by the global and European scientific and educational centralised programmes to join mostly in high-coast international scientific collaborations in Europe, for example collaborations in CERN and to join common physics education programmes applied to in order to ensure the mobility of students and diplomas in Europe (EUPEN). Unfortunately they (GERST programmes and European Centralised Scientific Programmes) did not bear fruit and in ten years after the Cold War the scientific gap between EU and Balkans become more sharply. The most of Elliot scientific centres and research institutes in Balkans (for example in Sofia and in Bucharest) have been already closed because of internal political and economical problems. European Centralised Scientific Programmes and GERST programmes (one of the reasons of these programmes was to constructive contribution to the peaceful development of civilization) do not cover such regional institutions. On the other hand in spite of recent improvements towards in peace in the Balkans, the dangers from the political, religious and ethnic conflicts still prevail in the Balkans. (For example just today Kosova Conflict.) Unfortunately, in these days the scientific community and scientific society relationships in Balkans is more worst than during the Cold War. The Balkan-wide scientific and cultural collaborations which established and coordinated by non-governmental Balkan scientific organisations (NGRSO) and national societies in Balkans after the Cold War already has been stopped. Because such collaborations and these organizations in Balkans need support from governments to continues their works. In these conditions how scientific community and society in Balkans should be aware of the need to apply natural and social sciences and technology to address the root causes conflicts. For example, now BPU collaborations and activities are in such limitation with the national member societies. Because national physics societies, for their future, have to be in side of his governments. And after the long efforts myself I did not succeed to operate a Balkan-wide physics research centre and to found a Balkan graduate school in physics and related topics under the BPU coordinations similar the Abdus Salam ICTP in Trieste. Recently the new Statute has cut off the TESLA Scientific Centre (founded in 1996 in VINCA-Belgrade) from Belgrade University.

5. By GERST in which human capability to deal with the enormous challenges of coming

decades will be greatly enhanced. But, as I purposed at Pugwash Workshop on “Ethics in Science” held in Debrecen, Hungary (1998); the GERST to be also considered as global problem in ethic of “Knowledge Age” (Akdeniz 1998a). In Hefei Conference I recommended the establishment of a new independed movement like Pugwash Conferences for ethics in scientific education and in science, i.e. in GERST. This new international organization I recommend must be established by individual scientists and teachers who are not active member or staff in national or international scientific and educational organizations (of course there are many important organizations; for example, ISCU Standing Committee on Responsibility and Ethics in Science and for similar purpose UNESCO has established the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology). But what we need a organization which would advocates the duty of scientists and teachers in taking full responsibility for the ethics in GERST and in preventing and overcoming the actual and potential harmful effects of high technologies in research and education through poor countries possibly will succeed in preserving their own scientific and cultural traditions by this organization. Developing (from south) countries possibly succeed in preserving their own scientific and cultural traditions by these moral efforts via scientific and cultural collaborations coordinated by this organization. Such organization can also initiate a period of everlasting peace for the people of region like Balkan (Akdeniz 1998b).

REFERENCES

Akdeniz, G., 1995, RACIP-2, World Congress of Physical Societies, Edited by Toki, H., (1996) Tokyo-Japan.

Akdeniz, G., 1996, "Counter balancing Glabalization", Europhysics News, Vol.27/6.

Akdeniz, G., 1998a, "The Role of Science in Balkans", presented at Pugwash Workshop on

Ethics in Science, (1998) Debrecen-Hungary and at the World Congress of Humanists Unity, (1998) Sarajevo- Bosna-Herzogovina.

Akdeniz, G., 1998b, "Globalization in Physics and It's Role in South", presented at International Conference on New Technologies in Physics Education, (1998) Hefei-China.

Finnbogadottir V., 1999, “Opening Address” First the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, (1999) Oslo-Norway.