Debates concerning Scientific and Technological Developments at the United Nations

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K13422
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 06020:International relations-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Adachi Kaori 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 学術研究員 (70866714)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 国際制度 / 国際連合 / 科学技術開発

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has repeatedly adopted resolutions that promote scientific and technological developments for peaceful purposes, while it has passed several resolutions that call for restricting scientific and technological developments for military purposes. These resolutions do not distinguish between science and technology for peaceful purposes and those for harmful purposes, and the relationship between military and civil technology is complicatedly evolving. Through a review of UN official documents, this study shows that the UN employed different tactics to address the problems that could arise from the contradicting resolutions related to scientific and technological developments. It attempted to play a facilitating role in creating a common set of rules in the 1990s, and in the 2010s, it tried to mobilize various nonstate actors to address them.

Free Research Field

国際関係論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

国際政治における科学技術開発についての既存の研究は、個別の科学技術がもたらす影響の考察が中心であった。科学技術開発に関する動向を、国連総会の記録をもとに、長期間にわたり俯瞰的に考察したことは、国際的議論の流れを包括的に把握することに貢献する。また、科学技術開発のような国家のパワーに直結する課題に国連がどのように取り組んでいるのかについて得た知見は、不安定な国際情勢を背景に、多国間協力が困難になっているなか、国境を越えた課題解決のために、国際制度が果たすことのできる機能についての考察に貢献する。