Scientific Diplomacy in BRICS+ Countries: From Strengthening Multilateralism to “Smart” Economy

Scientific diplomacy is regarded as an effective tool for developing coordinated positions to overcome global challenges and reduce political tensions through the realization of three main purposes: “science in diplomacy”, “diplomacy for science”, and “science for diplomacy”. The author of the article proposes to expand the scope and consider scientific diplomacy as an effective tool for the development of the economy, the construction of “smart economy” in the BRICS+ countries. The article is aimed to demonstrate the connection of scientific diplomacy with the economy of the BRICS+ countries. For this purpose, key indicators of the economy, publication activity and international collaboration have been selected. The close relationship between scientific diplomacy and per capita GNI of the BRICS+ countries is shown based on quantitative analysis. The results obtained suggest a high potential of scientific diplomacy, which is not yet sufficiently used. BRICS countries with a high level of publication activity within the analyzed thematic areas of “smart” economy are less inclined to international collaboration than new BRICS+ members. The latter are narrowing the gap in publication activity more rapidly than the larger economies (China, India, Russia). With a smaller number of scientists, the “small” economies of the BRICS+ countries are rapidly increasing their scientific and technological potential in selected thematic areas through international collaboration, which is already affecting the economy, because there is a close relationship between GNI per capita, the number of publications and international collaboration. The article shows prospective thematic scientific directions for multilateral cooperation and possible threats to scientific diplomacy in connection with the expansion of BRICS+. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the disclosure of scientific diplomacy as an economic phenomenon capable of having a positive impact on the economy of a country.